Naruto: Potential Realised
by Iron Monkey Fist
Summary: The old man survived the invasion and acknowledged Naruto's services to Konoha. How would the shinobi world cope with a Naruto who realises his full potential and becomes the splendid shinobi only few believed he could be?
1. Chapter 1: Recognition

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 24-06-11_

_Updated: 30-12-13_

_Summary:_

_The old man survived the invasion and acknowledged Naruto's services to Konoha. How would the shinobi world cope with a Naruto who realises his full potential and becomes the splendid shinobi only few believed he could be?_

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><p>CH1: Recognition<p>

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><p>(Konohagakure no Sato: Three Days after the Invasion)<p>

Naruto's eyes were fixed in an angry glare as he stormed through the village in a brisk pace, uncaring towards the villagers as he brushed past them with his shoulders. Today he wasn't in the mood to be their whipping boy, in fact he was pissed off to the point he would most likely lash out violently if anyone pushed his buttons.

It had been three days since the invasion and Naruto had just about fully recovered from his fight against Gaara. Having passed out minutes after the Sand siblings retreat, Naruto had very little to no recollection of what happened. There was an invasion, that much was obvious, and Hiruzen-jiji had fought his old student, Orochimaru of the Sannin, the very same Sannin who had completely fucked up Naruto's Chakra Pathways during the second stage of the Chūnin Exam. When Naruto woke up, he found out the invasion had been defeated and that Hiruzen had forced his student in a stalemate; Orochimaru had decided to cut his losses and flee. Naruto was relieved to hear that, he knew the old man was powerful, but he was also old and fragile at age of sixty-nine. His stamina couldn't have been anywhere near Orochimaru's.

He was also very confident he had earned his promotion. After all, not only had he defied the odds and defeated Hyūga Neji, he had also defeated Sabaku no Gaara and saved both his teammates, allies, and the village in the process. For the entire first day after the finals, Naruto stayed home in case he would get his notice of promotion by messenger hawk.

None came.

Naruto gave it another day, but no message came his way. It wasn't until he stepped outside to buy some groceries today, when he heard news that the promotions had already been handed out.

_"Did you hear? Uchiha Sasuke defeated that red-haired demon from Suna. He saved us, I bet he's going to get a promotion!"_

_"I heard Shikaku's kid already got the bump to chūnin. Looks like the genius lives on in the next generation, huh?"_

_"They should just make Uchiha-san a jōnin already. Did you see his lightning jutsu during the finals, it was amazing!"_

_"I heard he's the one who summoned Gamabunta-sama. I thought Gamabunta-sama only obeyed Jiraiya-sama."_

Naruto clenched his fists tightly, the old man was going to get an earful today, and anyone who got in the way of him saying what he had to say better bring backup. Naruto ran up the last steps to the Hokage Tower and was met by two chūnin guards he vaguely knew; Izumo and Kotatsu. They were alright as far as Naruto knew: they weren't like the majority of the village populous, and were genuinely nice guys, but today he didn't care about that. He couldn't bring himself to care about what anyone thought today.

"Hey, you're that Naruto kid right?" Izumo and Kotatsu held up their hands as Naruto was about to walk past them. "Hokage-sama just got out of the hospital, and he's asked to be left alone for some time. He doesn't want to be bothered by anyone today."

"Move," Naruto barked the order with visible aggression.

Kotatsu took offence to that. "Watch your tone, kid. Show some respect to your superiors."

"Move, _please_."

Izumo eyed Kotatsu for his reaction and then turned to Naruto. "Hey, whatever it is that's got you pissed off doesn't give you the right to barge in here and do as you please."

Naruto glared at both of them with intensity. "I am _two seconds_ away from beating the crap out of both you." His voice shook with barely restrained anger and the pair of chūnin flinched, more taken back by his anger than intimidated. "If you want to keep this up, prepare yourself for a few broken bones because I am _done_ with taking your _shit_. Got it?"

The chūnin shared a glance and silently parted, allowing Naruto to gain entry.

"What the hell was that about?"

Kotatsu shrugged. "It's his funeral if he wants to piss off Hokage-sama."

…

The Hokage's secretary stood up out of her chair and adjusted her glasses with a rigid posture. "How did you get in here, nobody is supposed to bother Hokage-sama today." Noticing she was being completely ignored, the secretary shouted after him. "Hey!"

Naruto ignored her and walked through the double doors, and slammed them to a close behind him. "Jiji, I need to talk to you for a minute!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk and was overlooking some paperwork; he was wearing his Kage robes under which his entire body was wrapped up in gauze, even his hands. The Shinobi no Kami looked up and smiled at Naruto, apprehensive of his sudden barging in but wasn't surprised in the least, Naruto had never been one for manners. It was rather refreshing really, instead of the usual pleasantries and veiled meaning behind select choice of words: Naruto said what he wanted when he wanted. "Hello there, Naruto-kun. You seem upset, what is it?"

"Everything!" Naruto took a seat without invitation and then got up immediately, he was too pent up to sit down and thus began to walk repeatedly walk from wall to wall in the oval Hokage office. "You know, Jiji, I used to believe you when you told me things got better when I was a kid? You always said that one day people wouldn't hate me, and I believed you. I didn't know _why_ they hated me back then, but I believed you."

Hiruzen nodded slowly. "Did something happen, Naruto-kun?"

"No- Yes!" Naruto wasn't making a lot of sense right now; he tended to ramble whenever he was this frustrated. "You know it's been my lifelong dream to take that hat of you so everyone will acknowledge me, and you can live the rest of your days in peace, don't you, Jiji?"

"I sure do."

Naruto took a deep breath, knowing he needed to stop this tantrum if he wanted the old man to take him seriously. "Jiji," he said after a moment of silence, "_Not once_ since I found out I was the Kyūbi's jinchūriki, have I resented the people for what they did or felt. I understand that they lost people they cared for in the attack, but that doesn't excuse them for the way they treated me my entire life, does it?"

"No, it does not, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen affirmed with a grave expression. Naruto hadn't brought up the Kyūbi since the night he found out he was its container, thus the Sandaime knew whatever it was that was bothering him, had to be serious.

"_Still_, I never resented them for never liking _me_ as person. I mean, I didn't exactly make things better by pulling pranks on them, but this time they crossed the line, Jiji. I'm- I'm so angry I feel I'm going to explode if I don't get this off my chest!"

"Please…" Hiruzen urged him to continue.

"Why didn't I get the bump to chūnin, Jiji? You know I deserve it more than anyone!" Naruto slammed his hands on the Hokage's desk; it wasn't an aggressive move on his part, but merely a way to vent his frustration. The Hokage raised an eyebrow at Naruto prompting him to realise who he was speaking to. "I'm sorry, Jiji."

"I haven't reviewed who gets promoted and who doesn't, Naruto-kun, but you seem to have a good idea who did. I've been out of commission for a few days after the botched invasion. The council has taken it unto themselves to make my job easier."

Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled, he was getting his nerve back. "Nara Shikamaru got promoted and I didn't. All because he surrendered when he knew he had already lost the match? Obviously he's going to give up if he's out of energy, that doesn't show him cutting his loses through strategic thinking, that shows him being logical! If he hadn't surrendered, that sand chick would have just killed him. Don't get me wrong, Shikamaru helped out big time when we went after Sasuke, but why did he get a promotion over me? _I _beat my opponent and _then_ defeated Gaara, yet I didn't get promoted? I don't get it!"

Hiruzen eyed Naruto impassively, betraying no emotion through his calculative brown eyes as his minds went through the possibilities. Surely Shikaku's son would not have been promoted because he knew when to give up? That was common sense and logic. Of course, strategies and tactics were imperative prerequisites for any great shinobi, but Naruto had plenty of that, and he had proven so in his fight against Hyūga Neji, who was a fearsome opponent to say the least, and with a year's worth of experience over Naruto. Had the council cleared Shikaku's son for promotion just for that, because he was the son of Nara Shikaku? It wasn't a pleasant thought for the aged Hokage, not in the slightest.

"That's not all of it, Jiji," Naruto continued. "Everyone is giving Sasuke credit for beating Gaara when it was ME who did that. I beat Gaara after Sasuke got his ass handed to him, and it was ME who saved Sakura-chan. What's crazy is that everybody seems to forget Sasuke didn't sign the summoning contract with toads, so how the hell would they explain Gamabunta's appearance?"

"Aha." It became increasingly clear to the Hokage how much Naruto had done to protect Konoha whilst he was fighting his former student, Orochimaru. Granted, Sabaku no Gaara could have been taken out by his ANBU if necessary, but for Naruto to have faced the Ichibi jinchūriki so soon after having faced against Hyūga Neji who did considerable damage…

"I'm sorry for throwing this tantrum at you, Jiji. From the looks of it, you stopped listening and I can't really blame you, so I'm just going to go and figure out what I'm going to do next. If Sasuke doesn't get promoted, then at least Team 7 isn't split up and we can try again next year." Naruto gave the Hokage one of his rare bows, it was awkward and unrefined but Hiruzen knew it was meant as a heartfelt apology. Naruto otherwise never engaged in formality.

The blonde then turned to open the door when Hiruzen called after him.

"Naruto-kun, wait." Hiruzen rose out of his chair as Naruto turned to face him. "I am terribly sorry your performance was overlooked, Naruto-kun. However, I _did_ observe your match against Hyūga Neji, and I am well aware of your triumph over Sabaku no Gaara…"

"Where are you going with this, Jiji?"

"Naruto-kun, I have always known you will one day become a splendid shinobi worthy of assuming the mantle of Hokage. Your mastery of the Kage Bunshin along with your performance during your A-ranked mission in Nami no Kuni, coupled with the fact Jiraiya speaks highly of you is all the evidence I need to know you are well on your way."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You know Ero-sennin?"

Hiruzen gave a croaky laugh at the nickname. "_Jiraiya_ is one of many students I have taught, Naruto-kun. I raised him along with Orochimaru as part of my first genin team." Naruto's eyes bulged comically and Hiruzen gave another croaky laugh. "I assume he did not mention I was his sensei? Now then, Naruto-kun, I hereby promote you to the rank of chūnin. I will be taking care of the paper work," Hiruzen pulled a grimace as he said it, "You go home and await further instructions."

"Jiji, thank you! You won't regret promoting me, I promise!"

-ooo-

(Two Hours Later: Naruto's Apartment)

When Naruto got home he was so excited and anxious he didn't know what do with himself, so he decided to clean up his apartment and then his equipment. He had just placed down the last of his polished kunai in a neat row when a ticking noise caused him to avert his gaze to the window where a messenger hawk eyed him and squawked demandingly. Naruto got to his feet and quickly opened his window, allowing the bird to stand on one leg on his windowsill as it extended its remaining limb. It squawked again, as though it had somewhere else to be so Naruto quickly took the red scroll of its leg.

"Thanks." Naruto went to pet the hawk, but it nibbled at his hand impatiently, so he opened the window again and got it to leave. "Go on then," Naruto pulled a sour expression, shooing the bird away just as impatiently.

The winged animal tuned and left with one last squawk as he closed the window behind him and sat down on his bed. Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled shakily as he unfurled the scroll with an anxious sense of excitement.

_Poof!_

As soon as Naruto unfurled it a column of smoke burst out and when it cleared, Naruto noticed his bed and floor were cluttered with a lot of assorted shinobi equipment. Of course, the one that immediately caught his eye was his chūnin flak jacket and a tantō attached to a belt next to it. Naruto didn't notice his breathing had gone shallow, he could hardly believe it. Quickly, the blonde discarded his orange jacket and put on his chūnin flak jacket with a sense of glee and exhilaration.

"Fuck yeah!" Naruto jumped excitedly with a fist-pump and quickly grabbed the tantō, and made swishing movements with it. He wasn't skilled in kenjutsu, not in the slightest, but at the moment he did not care for he had been promoted! "This is awesome." Naruto unsheathed the tantō and noted immediately that though it had been cleaned thoroughly, the blade itself was rather old. Naruto frowned, why didn't the old man give him a new one?

The train of thought had him inspect his supposedly new flak jacket, and as expected, he noticed it was noticeably different. Its mesh was more durable, it had pointy shoulder pads and the body armour frame under the fabric was both heavier and stronger than he thought it would be. Upon further inspection, Naruto retrieved an envelope from his breast pocket and quickly opened it; there were four documents within it.

The first one was a neatly folded sheet of paper with the Konoha stamp on it and read: 'Formal Notice of Promotion.' Naruto unfolded the letter and began to read the following out loud:

_U. Naruto,_

_It has come to our attention that you have performed admirably during your missions, and coupled with your performance during the Chūnin Exam, adequate mission success rate and skill set, we have deemed you qualified to join the ranks of Konoha's Nijū Shōtai of the Border Patrol Guard. __**(2)**__ The Border Patrol Guard is a department dedicated to homeland security missions in order to monitor foreign influences in Hi no Kuni. _

_More will be explained to you upon assignment. You are expected to report in Briefing Room One in the Hokage Tower, tomorrow at 10:00. Your platoon leader will assign you to a team and further inform you of your duties._

_Signed,_

_Shinobi Assignment Department_

With a sense of euphoria, Naruto reread the letter another two times as he sat down on his bed. 'I can't believe it, I actually got promoted. Jiji pulled through for me!' Naruto smiled, making a mental note to treat the old man to a meal sometime. Noticing he was subconsciously crumpling the remaining three letters, Naruto folded his notice of promotion and placed it back in the envelope; took a look at the second one, it appeared to be a receipt of sorts.

_Recipient: U. Naruto_

_Ninja Rank: Chūnin_

_Ninja Registration: 012607 __**(1)**_

_The recipient has been charged with the following:_

_1 S.I. flak jacket, 1 S.I. tantō, 3 pairs of S.I. shinobi uniform /w 2 long-sleeved shirts & 1 short-sleeved shirt, 2 pairs of S.I. bodysuit, 1 pair of S.I. shinobi sandals (black), 3 packs of S.I. kunai (x25), 3 packs of S.I. shuriken (50), 1 pack of S.I. explosive tags (mild), 1 pack of S.I. makibishi (150), 3 rolls S.I. sealing scrolls (10ft), … (Note: S.I. = Standard Issue)_

_The recipient is hereby reminded to dutifully take adequate care of all equipment issued and is expected to vigilantly maintain all equipment issued._

_Signed,_

_Konoha Armoury Administration _

Naruto smiled to himself and took a look at all his new equipment with a content feeling. Jiji must have cleared him for this equipment, and Naruto was immensely grateful as he sure as hell he couldn't have afforded it otherwise. Naruto decided to take the note to heart and began to pick up his newly issued equipment, and laid them out on his bed, cataloguing items by purpose and then picked up the last two letters.

One was a blank square sheet of paper and the other was a letter written in the familiar, neat calligraphic handwriting of the Sandaime, thus Naruto took a look at it.

_Naruto,_

_I presented your case to the shinobi council and they realised you did Konoha a great service in successfully participating in an A-ranked mission given by your sensei in time of war when Konoha needed you most. By the time you have gotten over your excitement, I gather you will have realised you are now a chūnin and thus one significant step closer to one day kicking me out of my office. On that note, you must have noticed by now your chūnin flak and tantō are not quite standard issue. This is because those were mine when I was a chūnin during the First Great Shinobi War, and thus are somewhat different. Naruto, I would like you to have those mementos to remember me by when the day comes I will no longer be around. _

_Now that you are a chūnin, you will be expected to participate in tougher missions and in some cases lead squads of your own. As we __both__ should realise by now, it is time you step up your training. I do not mean to insult you, Naruto, but you must make sure you branch out in the shinobi arts and not just for yourself but for the people that will depend on you on the battlefield. I have taken the liberty to have you issued with standard issue equipment for all chūnin and above and have used up one of your sealing scrolls to include a variety of jutsu and chakra control exercises I believe you should take the time to learn. _

_The other notes included in this envelope will be a receipt of all equipment issued to you and a special sheet of chakra paper that will determine what your primary affinity is. When a shinobi reaches the rank of chūnin, we present them with a sheet of chakra paper so that they can determine their nature type (or types) so that they can decide to specialise in the element they are strongest in. It is highly recommended you have gained some form of mastery over at least two nature types to reach the rank of jōnin._

_You will be expected to report to the Hokage Tower tomorrow afternoon for briefing and team assignment. Please refrain from emulating your sensei and be on time, first impressions are crucial._

_I know you will make me proud, Naruto. You are the future Hokage after all._

_Signed,_

_Sarutobi Hiruzen_

_Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato_

Naruto reread the letter again and again, taking in every word as he sat down…

The old man believed in him. He truly believed in him; that he could one day become a truly splendid shinobi and assume the mantle of Hokage... In his letter, the old man expressed nothing but expecting his best efforts and dedication. He didn't feel insulted in the slightest about the old man telling him to branch out more. Naruto knew he needed more jutsu in his arsenal, he realised that when he saw Sasuke had been taught the Chidori, but now that was the furthest on his mind. This wasn't about showing up Sasuke anymore, Naruto wouldn't allow it to be. The old man had put his faith in Naruto and he couldn't let him down now, not ever.

Naruto rose out of bed and took off the flak jacket and tantō attached to his midriff by a utility belt; made sure he placed them down neatly on top of his new attire. Naruto then reached for his sealing scrolls and found one labelled with the kanji for 'jutsu' and unfurled it.

_Poof!_

As with the previous scroll, several smaller scrolls popped into existence, each with their own label marked on them. There were four different scrolls; one simply read 'chakra control – READ' and the remaining three read 'genjutsu', 'ninjutsu' and 'fūinjutsu.' Naturally, Naruto reached for the ninjutsu first as it was his strong suit and upon unfurling it, he noticed the first jutsu on the scroll was the Shadow Clone jutsu. Confused, Naruto began to read and noted it was copied straight from the Scroll of Sealing he had stolen the night he graduated. As he skimmed down, he noted with a deadpan expression that the Hokage had underlined information he hadn't taken the time to read the first time around.

_Shadow Clones will transfer all of their memories and experience upon being destroyed or cancelled out, thus making them perfect for reconnaissance and other applications, including ninjutsu training._

"FUCK!"

…

Naruto stayed up late in the night going over all the jutsu he had read about. The old man included some easy chakra control exercises and some interesting applications, such as bending metal to repair a weapon; two jutsu of each element, various other jutsu and basic fūinjutsu so that Naruto could secure his equipment. By the time he went to sleep, Naruto could have kicked himself a thousand times as he couldn't believe how deprived he had been.

The Kage Bunshin alone was a goldmine and the Hokage had written a note, stating Naruto was one of very few that could use the technique on a large scale as his reserves were incredible and he never seemed to suffer from mental fatigue when his clones were dispelled in large quantities. The old man also urged Naruto to become more strategic how he used the technique and recommended devising basic tactics. The sly old fox even included a new application to the Kage Bunshin Naruto didn't know about before.

Naruto also found out his element was wind, which was great since the Hokage had included two powerful Fūton jutsu Naruto could get the hang of in mere hours and mastery over in the span of days. Naruto was rather excited to get started but reminded himself he was expected to be more responsible, and thus set his alarm clock and went to bed - though it had never taken him as much effort to fall asleep.

-ooo-

(The Next Day)

Naruto woke up early and for the first time in his life felt completely awake mere seconds after opening his eyes.

Emerging from the bathroom, he got dressed in the standard chūnin uniform he had hung to his closet. Naruto felt pride and sense of achievement as he eyed himself in the mirror, pulling on his metal-plated gloves as he did it. Naruto picked up his headband and took of his blue cloth, opting for a black one instead as it matched his attire.

No longer did he look like an obnoxious eyesore. Naruto knew he was done with his attention seeking antics the moment he put down that letter last night. It was kind of refreshing, he realised, as he pulled his utility belt over his waist, attached his pouches and holsters and strapped his tantō to the small of his back.

Naruto looked into the mirror once more, astounded by the sudden change in appearance. He seemed so different, he definitely appeared more presentable. Maybe even a little older and taller, now that he didn't wear his usual bulky garb. Moreover, for once, he actually looked like a professional.

Minutes later, Naruto was running over the rooftops towards the Hokage Tower. He noticed he was turning quite a few heads from both villagers and shinobi once they got over the new appearance. Naruto paid it no heed, he would have loved to boast usually but he was short on time and wanted to make a good impression, thus he made sure to hurry up.

…

Naruto arrived at the Hokage Tower approximately fifteen minutes before his briefing was about to start. The chūnin from yesterday looked at him with raised eyebrows and expressions that conveyed mixed feelings.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, feeling a sense of embarrassment for losing his cool yesterday. "Hey, sorry about yesterday," Naruto apologised, bowing his head ever so slightly. It wasn't really his thing and the chūnin knew it, but they made no comment. "I was angry but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Kotatsu eyed Izumo and nodded, smiling. "It's alright. You're that Uzumaki kid, right?" Naruto nodded and both chūnin shared a good laugh at that. Naruto frowned, about to make a snide comment of his own when Kotatsu shook his head. "Sorry, we were just thinking. That match you had with that Hyūga kid? Priceless. We were stationed below the Hyūga's private deck, and you should have seen the look on their faces when you won that match."

"Oh, thanks." Naruto gave them a smile of his own. It was nice to get some recognition for once.

"Yeah, that was a great one," Izumo agreed. The chūnin shared another glance and Kotatsu nodded, prompting Izumo to ask, "So is it true?"

"Is what true?" Naruto asked.

"Come on…" Izumo urged him.

Naruto gave them a confused look. "What?"

"Word has it you fought alongside Uchiha Sasuke and Shikaku's kid against that Gaara kid. I've heard a lot of different stories, but word has it Sasuke beat him. Is that true?"

"No." Naruto bit out the answer with an agitated frown.

"Then who did?" Kotatsu asked.

"I did."

The chūnin looked at each other again and burst out laughing. It ticked Naruto off, but he refused to let his temper get the best of him, not on the first day of being chūnin. He couldn't disappoint the old man so soon. "What's so funny?" he demanded instead,

Kotatsu abruptly stopped laughing. "You- You're serious, aren't you?"

"No way…" Izumo shook his head.

"Why the hell do you think I'm wearing this flak jacket?" Naruto gestured to his uniform.

Though they found his flak odd, they couldn't help but laugh embarrassedly. "Sorry about that," Kotatsu apologised.

"It's not a big deal," Naruto lied. He was anxious to get going so he brushed past them, "I'd love to talk some more but I've got to report for briefing and assignment."

As the rookie chūnin walked away, Kotatsu and Izumo looked at each other with incredulous expressions.

"So he really did beat Sabaku no Gaara _and_ Hyūga Neji?" Kotatsu feigned a shuddered, getting a laugh out of his partner. "That kid is going places, Izumo. We need to watch out before he gets promoted to jōnin before we do."

Izumo chuckled and waved him off. "He's good, but he's not that good... is he?"

-ooo-

(Ten Minutes Later: Briefing Room One)

The briefing room was similar to the academy in terms of structure, though it was much larger and could probably hold up to twice as many people. In addition, instead of shelves of textbooks, there were many maps of Hi no Kuni and the entire continent as well a bulletin board with sheets of paper stuck to them.

Naruto sat behind a desk in the room full of shinobi, feeling as though he was back in academy and counted about forty in the room. Looking around, he noticed most were chūnin, and the majority of them were around his age; he recognized quite a few of them from the academy when he was younger. As Naruto expected, Shikamaru was also present; he sat a few rows behind him, for once actually sitting up straight and not dozing off and diligently making notes as the rest of them were.

"OK, looks like everyone is here," said a tall bulky bald shinobi standing behind a lectern in the front of the room. "Alright then, men, today we are joined by two rookies. Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto are the only ones to have passed the exams this year." Quite a few found his amusing and sniggered, prompting the bald shinobi to cough to keep their attention. "As pitiful as that may sound, this year's competition was tough. That's not important though," the man continued. "For the newbies, my name is Kizu Enrō and I am the platoon leader of the Nijū Shōtai." Enrō was tall and muscular with a shaven head adorned with a deep scar running over his scalp and right eye. He was dressed in the regular uniform and wore a white piece of cloth with 'platoon leader' stamped on it in red kanji attached under his flak jacket much like Asuma.

Naruto got a few looks; few held contempt in their eyes but the majority of the shinobi were around his age and had thus never been told about the Kyūbi. If they had something against Naruto, it was either because he pulled a prank on them or because their parents told them slanderous things about him. Either way, he wouldn't let it get to him. Not this time around.

"I'll keep it brief for the two rookies," Kizu announced. "The Nijū Shōtai is the highest numbered platoon in Konoha's Border Patrol Guard and consists out of chūnin, tokebetsu jōnin and a handful fully fledged jōnin. The better your performance, the more likely you'll be put into lower digits for tougher missions. As the twentieth platoon, we are assigned mostly with the grunt work of our central government's Homeland Security, so expect to be out and about on border patrol most of the time." Kizu looked at the notes placed on his lectern and nodded. "First order of business, make sure to make notes. Teams 305 to 307, you already got your orders yesterday. Get going and good hunting."

Naruto noted each squad had five members as fifteen shinobi got up and left the room.

"Teams 308 to 310, you're cleared for border patrol for the next three weeks." Another fifteen chūnin rose and left the briefing room, leaving fifteen chūnin left (not counting Kizu and his two assistants). "Team 311, you just returned from your mission. You guys are cleared for some R&R. I'll see you in a few days." Another five rose out of their seat, leaving Naruto with Shikamaru and three others remaining.

"You guys," Enrō addressed the remaining five shinobi in the room, "You are now official the 312th team of the Guard. Sarugaku, you're the senior, so consider yourself promoted to team leader until further notice. Congratulations." Kizu nodded to a tall chūnin with spiky brown hair and dark eyes seated a row in front of Naruto and walked up to his desk, dropping two files on his desk. "Here are their files. Team 312, you guys have a week to get familiar with one another before I set you on your first mission. Sarugaku show those newbies the ropes. I'm trusting you with this one…"

Sarugaku stood up and nodded, accepting the two files Kizu passed him. "Understood, sir."

Naruto turned around with a smile to Shikamaru who shot him a lazy smile of his own. At the very least they knew someone in the squad, that would make things considerably easier.

Sarugaku turned to them and cleared his throat. "Nara, Uzumaki, Hayase, Nakamura, follow me."

Naruto rose out of his desk, sharing a glance with Shikamaru who merely nodded and followed the rest of the team.

-ooo-

(Twenty Minutes Later: Training Ground Twenty-Two)

On their way to the training ground, Naruto and Shikamaru were silent whilst the remaining three, who were already familiar with one another, spoke a few words. They arrived at the training ground and sat down under a tree as Sarugaku cleared his throat again.

"Alright, let's get started," the team leader announced, addressing Naruto and Shikamaru in particular. "I am already familiar with Hayase and Nakamura but since you two are new, I believe a teambuilding exercise is in order. I will begin. My name is Sarugaku Tsuzumi and I will be your team leader, TL for short. You may address me as taichō during missions and senpai during downtime. I am twenty-two years old, I enjoy good literature and strategic board games. I specialise in sabotage and setting up traps with my explosive ninjutsu. I have an affinity for fire. My ambition is to one day join the ranks of ANBU."

"You left out you're the oldest in our division," Hayase pointed out with a laugh. Then turning to the rookies, he added: "Tsuzumi here hasn't gotten promoted once since he joined the division four years ago."

Sarugaku cleared his throat with a not-so subtle glare at Hayase. "Yes, I am the most _experienced_ member of the Nijū Shōtai, and I have yet to be promoted due to the fact my experience is needed in our division." Before Hayase could retort, the chūnin then added: "Why don't you go next, Hayase?"

Hayase was a teenaged chūnin with silky bluish-grey hair going down the right side of his face and grey eyes; he had tanned skin and flamboyant air about him. "Fine. My name is Hayase, I am currently seventeen years old and my hobbies include _promiscuity_ and ninjutsu. I specialise in earth jutsu and sabotage just like _senpai_ over here, though I'm brushing up my kenjutsu." Hayase emphasised his point by resisting a hand one of his twin kodachi strapped over his shoulder. "As for my ambitions? Bang a hundred chicks before I reach thirty."

"At your rate, try three thousand," Nakamura commented with a tone of disgust Naruto could relate to. He wasn't sure whether he liked Hayase; the guy looked energetic and friendly, but he was somewhat of a _tool_.

Nakamaru Rei was an attractive purple-haired kunoichi with pale skin and violet eyes. She was one of the few kunoichi that were present and wore a slit skirt with skin-tight shorts and stockings instead of shinobi trousers and carried a backpack rather than pouches. "I'll go next. My name is Nakamura Rei, I am fourteen years old and have been a chūnin for seven months. My hobbies include art, cooking and gardening. My affinity is water. I specialise in medical ninjutsu and genjutsu."

Naruto smiled, at least he something in common with one of his new teammates. Sarugaku seemed to be very ambitious and loved authority; Hayase reminded him of a Kiba if he loved women as much as dogs, but at the very least Rei seemed normal and she liked gardening, as did he. That, and she was very attractive, cuter than Sakura so that was definitely a plus.

Sarugaku cleared his throat again; Naruto was beginning to dislike that habit. "Now then, Nara, Uzumaki, you two take turns. Please tell us about yourself so I can see if your files are up to date."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto and then sighed. "My name is Nara Shikamaru, I am thirteen years old and my hobbies include shōgi and cloud watching. As for my affinity... I don't know what it is. I specialise in my clan's Shadow Possession jutsu and tactics. My goal is to join Konoha's strategic department."

Sarugaku took a look at Shikamaru's folder and nodded repeatedly. "From what I understand you graduated second to last in your class... after Uzumaki Naruto here, who was the dead last of your year." The senior chūnin seemed rather disappointed to have been saddled with the two worst students of their year. "How did you two pass?" It was a rhetorical question they did't answer, and he continued reading the file. "Your sensei was Sarutobi Asuma, the Hokage's son? That explains your promotion at least." Sarugaku raised an eyebrow as he read out loud. "Incredible! An IQ over 200...? Noted to have incredible tactical and strategic mindset... Son of Nara Shikaku... Impressive, I can see Asuma did a great job teaching you."

It was just as Asuma was mentioned when Shikamaru brushed his ear; Naruto noticed the shadow user's new earrings were most likely a parting gift. He hadn't got one from Kakashi, then again Kakashi probably didn't know he was promoted. Naruto made a note to seek his old team after they were done here.

"Brainy, huh? Looks like this kid is smarter than you, _senpai._" Hayase grinned at Sarugaku who seemed rather perturbed by this.

"Alright, looks like I'm last." Naruto took a moment to formulate his thoughts. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I'm also thirteen years old and my hobbies include gardening and pulling pranks. I have an affinity for wind and I specialise in ninjutsu, and I'm also decent at taijutsu. I suppose my ninjutsu is somewhat lacking, but I'm working on it. My dream is to one day become Hokage and protect the village from its enemies."

"Ah yes, _Hokage_." There was a tone of condescension in Sarugaku's voice as he sat down on a log post and placed Shikamaru's folder on the floor and picked up Naruto as Hayase took a glance at the shadow user's files. "OK, let's see..." Sarugaku frowned and turned the folder for everyone to see. "You might want to submit a different picture for your file, Uzumaki."

Naruto laughed at the picture of himself with white and red face paint and Hayase burst out laughing whilst Shikamaru and Rei merely cracked a smile. "Yeah, I'll think about it."

"Don't think about it, _do _it. Consider that your first order," Sarugaku frowned at him and continue to read out loud to share the information. "Dead last of your year... multiple infractions of misconduct in academy... characteristics ranging from immature to impatient and impulsive..." Sarugaku looked at him with barely veiled contempt. Naruto was pretty much the anti-version of himself.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as Rei and Hayase looked at him as though they already knew he was going to be a burden to his team. Shikamaru, on the other hand, smiled at Naruto, having known him since childhood and having recently acquired a lot more respect for the blonde. The shadow-user knew full well Naruto was going to be anything but a burden to the team.

"How in the hell did you get assigned two A-ranked missions?" At this, his new teammates shared confused looks. Sarugaku began to read more and then made a sound of understanding. "I see, your sensei was none other Hatake Kakashi and you were on the same team as Uchiha Sasuke. That explains it."

Naruto frowned at that. "No, it doesn't."

It came out sounding ruder than he thought and Sarugaku didn't take kindly to it. "Excuse me? Your file indicates you are _insubordinate_ and _immature,_ with little to no talent. How did you even get promoted? I heard you defeated Hyūga Neji, but I had my doubts. This just confirms it."

Shikamaru turned to Naruto. "He makes a good point. You weren't at the ceremony, how _did_ you get promoted?"

"I went to the old man and I..." Naruto wasn't proud of saying it, "Demanded he promote me... sort of."

"Sort of?" Hayase chuckled.

Sarugaku gave Naruto a cold look. "I suggest you learn some respect and stop lying, Uzumaki. If you so much as raised your voice at Hokage-sama, you would have been thrown in detention, not promoted. You won't impress anyone with being a braggart and a liar."

"Let's just say we're close," Naruto replied vaguely. He doubted they would believe him if he told them exactly how close he was to the old man. "And like I said, Uchiha Sasuke being on my team has nothing to do with the fact I got promoted. If it did, don't you think he would be here too? Or what, do you think he got promoted to jōnin- _before you_?"

There a sting to that comment that struck a _few_ chords with Sarugaku who flipped over a few pages. "It says right here, Uchiha Sasuke defeated two chūnin known as the Demon Brothers from Kirigakure, defeated Momochi Zabuza's protégé _and_ assisted Hatake Kakashi in defeating Momochi, who is one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure I might add. All in _one_ A-ranked mission you just happened to be a part of." Hayase and Rei seemed genuinely surprised and Shikamaru gave Naruto a curious look, he hadn't heard much about Team 7's first A-ranked mission either.

Sarugaku continued with a glare aimed at Naruto. "_And_ _then,_ there is records of him defeating Sabaku no Gaara, and saving Konoha and several allies, including _you_, in the process."

"That's not what happened," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "Yes, Sasuke beat the Demon Brothers, but we _both_ helped Kakashi-sensei beat Zabuza the first time around, the second time it was all Kakashi-sensei. As for Zabuza's protégé, his name was Haku and he defeated both me _and_ Sasuke before _I_ managed to beat him with luck the second time around."

"And I'm sure you also beat Sabaku no Gaara," Sarugaku inferred sarcastically, getting a chuckle out of Hayase and an impassive stare from Rei directed at Naruto.

"He did beat Sabaku no Gaara," Shikamaru interrupted, cutting of Naruto's retort.

"He did?" Hayase asked with a somewhat dumbfound expression.

Rei looked at Naruto as though he was some fascinating creature. "Him?"

Shikamaru sighed, annoyed he was getting involved in this. "Yes, I was on the same A-ranked mission to assist Uchiha Sasuke. He was losing the fight until Naruto ended up saving him. Who do you think summoned that huge toad?"

"Gamabunta-sama was summoned by Jiraiya-sama, he is the only one alive with the Toad Summoning Contract! Maybe _you_ didn't notice, but Jiraiya-sama was summoning his toads right in the village when Orochimaru attacked." Sarugaku pointed out heatedly. "There is no way _this_ _loser_ did anything that great."

Naruto got to his feet aggressively, he had just about enough. "What is your problem-?"

"Naruto let it go," Shikamaru interrupted him again. Being one of the few that Naruto could genuinely call a friend, he understood why Naruto was so angry. After all, Sasuke had been beating him in everything since academy days. He realised how the blonde had to feel frustrated to say the least, to have his one win, his promotion, be associated with Sasuke. Still, this was their first day as chūnin and Naruto couldn't just go and piss off their team leader. "It's obvious they won't believe you. Just prove to them how strong you are when the opportunity arises."

Naruto glared at the shadow user but couldn't help but agree and thus settled down. "Fine, think what you want, Sarugaku-_senpai. _I'll make you eat those words someday."

Sarugaku ignored that remark as he got his feet and clapped his hands together. "Now then, let's familiar with team formations and tactics. These two need to get familiar with our teamwork."

Hayase groaned, "Great."

-ooo-

(Two Hours Later)

"OK, that's it for today, team. Tomorrow, we'll put the theory to practice. Dismissed!"

Naruto got up from the ground and put back on his flak jacket, having discarded it when it got too hot. They had been going over nothing but tactics at a snail's pace; it was if Sarugaku thought they were completely stupid. Naruto decided by the end, he didn't like Sarugaku in the slightest. Never mind the fact he thought all of his accomplishments were Sasuke's, the guy was just generally just an ass to Naruto.

Hayase was alright, Naruto didn't mind his attitude in the slightest. Rei didn't seem to think much of him, but he was fine with it considering most people were like that towards him initially and it only encouraged him to prove them wrong. It went without saying he was closest to Shikamaru on the team. They would probably grow closer now that they were on the same team, they got along nicely when they were kids but were pretty much strangers by the time they left academy for various reasons.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Shika. I've got to go to Kakashi-sensei and say goodbye to my old team."

Shikamaru merely nodded. "Sure, but would you mind telling me why your flak is different from mine before you go? It looks heavier."

"This is Jiji's old flak jacket from when he was a chūnin like a _century_ ago. He also gave me his old tantō," Naruto indicated blade attached to the flak jacket by a belt. "Cool, huh?"

Shikamaru smiled lazily, "I'll never understand why Hokage-sama likes you so much."

"It's because I'm the one who's going to let him retire. See ya, Shika." With that, Naruto took off, running towards Team Kakashi's usual training ground."

...

Naruto arrived at training ground seven minutes later and saw Kakashi reading his book whilst instructing Sasuke who was fighting his clone as Sakura cheered on her teammate. It was as if nothing had changed, the only difference would have been Naruto cheering for Kakashi's clone instead of Sasuke, which would usually get him a pummelling from Sakura. The thought brought a genuine smile to his face.

Kakashi looked up from his book as Naruto held up his hand in greeting. The jōnin smiled lazily behind his mask and his clone caught Sasuke's fist, causing him and Sakura to notice Naruto had arrived. The scarecrow had to admit, Naruto looked a lot more like the Yondaime than usual in his standard Konoha uniform. The knucklehead ninja appeared more confident and somewhat more mature, maybe even a little taller.

"Naruto?" Sakura looked at Sasuke as though to confirm it was really her teammate. "Why are you wearing that uniform... You got promoted, didn't you?"

Naruto came to a stop in front of his team and smiled proudly. "I got promoted yesterday. Sorry I didn't tell you, it was sort of last minute, Sakura-chan." The rosette shared glances with Sasuke and looked like she was about to try dispelling a genjutsu. "I'm serious! I really got promoted, Jiji himself promoted me yesterday."

Sakura gave her sensei a wide-eyed look. "Is it true, Kakashi-sensei? Did Naruto really get promoted?" Kakashi nodded. "Before me and Sasuke?"

Naruto frowned, "What's that supposed to mean, Sakura-chan? Jiji told me I _earned_ this promotion and he even gave me his old flak jacket." Naruto emphasised his point by indicating his uniform.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, that sounded really mean. I'm just surprised you're the only one that got promoted, I mean not even Sasuke or Neji got promoted."

Naruto was about to retort he actually beat his opponent, but let it go. He still had feelings for Sakura and he didn't want to upset her, nor did he want to ruin this moment. Sasuke looked at Naruto with an arrogant smile, the very same he had when he told Naruto he wanted to fight him the most during the finals. "Congratulations, you earned it."

Naruto was taken back. Did that just happen? Sasuke never congratulated him on anything before. "Thanks," Naruto grinned at the raven-haired genin. Naruto thought back to a few weeks after they graduated and the Uchiha had saved him _again _during one of their missions.

_"If you don't want to owe me... surpass me." _Those were the words Sasuke had said to him, it was the first time Sasuke acknowledged him as a potential rival.

That seemed to do it for Sakura who nodded and kindly smiled at him. "Congratulations, Naruto."

Kakashi put away his book and took a thoughtful pose. "I suppose tradition dictates I give you a present, but what could I give you?"

'The Chidori,' Naruto thought immediately. "You don't need to give me anything, Kakashi-sensei. I'm just glad I got promoted, though it looks like I'm going to have a tough time getting my teammates to like me."

Kakashi gave Naruto a curious look and Naruto subtly shook his head, indicating it wasn't because of his status as a jinchūriki. "Let me guess, your teammates are people you have pulled a prank on."

Naruto laughed, "No, that's not it. It's actually kind of funny."

For the next few minutes, Naruto told them all about his teammates and how he got promoted. He had the sense to tone down on Sarugaku's attitude towards him to not alarm his team.

"Shikamaru got promoted too?" Sakura's tone was disbelieving and it was getting annoying but Naruto let it go. "The two lowest scoring genin in our class got promoted to chūnin, that's kind of ironic, isn't it?"

"Well, Shikamaru just never tried, Sakura-chan. He's really smart but he's just as lazy, so he doesn't _seem_ dangerous. Though, _that's_ the scary part." Naruto came to the shadow user's defence, they were now teammates after all. "As for me..." Naruto grinned, "If I knew how to use a Kage Bunshin, I would have passed the first time around."

Kakashi chuckled at that. "So this Sarugaku doesn't like you very much?"

"No, he doesn't," Naruto laughed nervously as Sasuke and Sakura gave him disapproving looks. "It's really not my fault. It isn't!" he added forcibly when they kept looking at him like that. "He thinks everything I've done, Sasuke did."

Sasuke glared at no one in particular and they wisely choose not to comment on that. For the rest of the afternoon, Naruto stayed with his old team; it got nostalgic, even Sasuke seemed bothered by the fact he was leaving though hell would freeze over _twice_ before he would admit it.

Kakashi looked up as hawk flew by. "It looks like we're being summoned for a mission, Naruto. It's been nice seeing you again, make sure to drop by every now and then. Somebody needs to keep Sasuke on his guard."

Sasuke got to his feet and grabbed his backpack and nodded to him while Sakura bid Naruto goodbye. For a moment Naruto looked at his old team as they left, a wave of nostalgia crashing over him as he could hardly believe this was really happening. In the few months they had been together, Naruto felt he had really bonded with them and to see them leave made his heart feel heavy.

Naruto cupped his hands to his mouth. "SASUKE!"

In the distance, the Uchiha turned around with a questioning look. "What is it?"

Naruto smiled. "I'll see you at the top."

For a moment Sasuke was expressionless. Then, a smile crept to his features as he locked eyes with Naruto and began to smile slowly, "I'll see you there."

Naruto clenched his fists as his old teammates disappeared out sight, feeling a mix of emotions ranging from anxiousness, to excitement. He stood there for a few minutes, unmoving and deep in thought as he dealt with the nostalgia that came to surface. Naruto smiled, just because he outranked them now didn't mean they would stop getting stronger. He had to continue getting stronger, both for himself and for his old team. Naruto reached to the small of his back and reached into his pouch, retrieving the scroll containing jutsu.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

I could never understand Kishimoto's logic in keeping Naruto a genin. For the sake of the plot, I can understand he wanted to keep Team 7 together until the Sasuke Retrieval arc but really, couldn't he come up with another way of doing it? Naruto won his match against Hyūga Neji _and_ continued to defy all odds by beating Gaara, who stomped the shit out of Sasuke. Then there's the fact he signed the Toad Summoning Contract, meaning he was acknowledged by the ever-so-fickle Gamabunta _and_ Jiraiya of the Sannin. Surely his skill set alone would clear him for promotion.

Anyhow, this is my attempt at a Naruto who isn't a complete idiot and who realises he needs to step up his game if he ever wants that hat. For those who are wondering, Naruto's flak jacket is modified to look like the Naruto from Jiraiya's _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi._ He will retain this look for the majority of the story, so I recommend you go to Naruto Wikipedia and take a look at his picture if you have trouble imagining it.

In regards to Naruto's power, he'll be powerful but it doesn't happen overnight - not even with the Kage Bunshin training method. OK, that's all I got.

**Notes:**

(1) Naruto's actual Ninja Registration number as revealed in the data books.

(2) I know the Nijū Shōtai was a task force created for the sole purpose of locating and destroying Akatsuki forces, but that's not how it goes in this story. You'll see how I play with Konoha military structure in future chapters.

**ARC 1: Hit the Ground Running**

CH01: Recognition

CH02: Hit the Ground Running

CH03: Proving Your Worth

CH04: Rookie no More


	2. Chapter 2: Hit the Ground Running

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 15-08-11_

_Updated: 06-12-11_

_**And the story continues. Thank you to all of those who have read and reviewed so far. Keep it up!**_

_**Spelling check by goku90504**_

* * *

><p>CH2: Hit the Ground Running<p>

* * *

><p>(One Week Later: Hokage Tower)<p>

_Knock! Knock!_

"Enter."

Naruto pushed through the double doors, a greeting smile on his face as he entered spacious office of the Hokage. The old man was seated, eyes glancing over a file in his hand which he placed on his desk and stamped with his seal. "Jiji."

Hiruzen's eyes rested on Naruto's somewhat dishevelled form, noticing a few smudges of dirt and mud here and there. "When I said I wanted to see you after your mission, I didn't mean straightaway, Naruto-kun."

"I know, Jiji, but I don't mind." Naruto drew a chair, oblivious to the Hokage's mindful eye of his luxurious furniture under a dirty pair of trousers. "So, what did you want to see me about?"

The Hokage leaned back into his chair and curled his fingers. "How was your first mission as a chūnin? Not too much trouble, I suspect?"

Naruto shook his head. "It was pretty boring, but being in the countryside was kind of refreshing."

"I see, well with time and experience you may very well be issued with tougher missions to complete," the Hokage told him. "But for the time being, you are yet a rookie, Naruto-kun. You'll have to deal with whatever mission you're set with."

Naruto nodded, "I understand, Jiji."

"Good," the old man nodded approvingly.

For a moment it seemed that was all the old man wanted, thus Naruto rose out of his chair with a nod, however Hiruzen held up a hand. "One moment, Naruto. I must regrettably inform you, your promotion has come at an unfortunate time." Naruto was confused but asked no question, thus Hiruzen continued. "Due to recent events you're going to have a lot on your plate. Missions will be coming in nonstop for the time being and there's a good chance even your downtime will be spent running errands. I suggest you take the time to rest properly whenever you can, even as a rookie you will be expected to hit the ground running, Naruto-kun."

"Why's that, Jiji?"

"Well…" the Hokage leaned back into his chair for a moment, "Konoha needs to prove that the invasion has done nothing to impede our efforts in maintaining our place amongst the Great Five Shinobi Villages. Therefore it is imperative we appear a hundred percent operational at all times."

"So we're basically flexing our muscles to keep the other villages on their toes?" Naruto inferred.

"You catch on quick," Hiruzen said with a smile.

Naruto scratched his cheek, "Heh, must be Shika's influence on me."

"Don't sell yourself short, Naruto-kun. You may not have an IQ exceeding 200 but when it comes down to it, you are a fighting genius."

Hiruzen's tone was surprisingly firm; Naruto nodded with a stronger sense of confidence. "On the way here I noticed a lot of civilian work crews, does that mean the Daimyō's coughed up funds for repairing the damage from the invasion?"

"Indeed," Hiruzen nodded. "I won't bore you with the details, but as you may already know it can be quite cumbersome to secure additional funds from our Daimyō. Fortunately, the Shodai drafted several clauses when Konoha was formed. Amongst those clauses, there are quite a few we can invoke in instances such as these."

"Ahuh, I see." Naruto turned to see the Hokage's aide walk in with a stack of paperwork; the old man's expression instantly fell. "Well, I'll leave you to it, Jiji. I'll swing by soon."

"I already look forward to it," the old man grumbled as his eyes laid on the pile of paperwork, as though willing it to spontaneously burst into flames.

(Three Weeks Later – Hi no Kuni Countryside)

In the woodlands in Fire Country's countryside, Naruto stumbled tiredly to the source of water in the distance. Moments later, the blond knelt down by a stream, sinking his tantō in the soil as he eyed the water closely; he reached into his pouch and withdrew a small canister of light blue pills and dropped three into the stream. The immediately following fizzy noise was as a result of a chemical reaction the pills set off to clear the water of toxins and other impurities. These pills were usually used by shinobi in foreign countries, but one could never be too certain. It was one of the many things he picked up over the last few weeks. Most seemed rather mundane, but in reality were rather sensible. For instance, the tantō stabbed in the ground would, if left there, would tip off his teammates something had happened, such as a surprise attack for instance.

Naruto waited for the water to clear up some more and then submerged his hands into the stream, filling them with water and splashed some on his face to rub the dirt off the dirt and fatigue. He allowed himself a minute to of idly stare into his reflection; then reached for his canteen to fill it up with water as his mind wandered.

Another scouting mission.

Team 312 had been deployed on mission after mission for the past two weeks, it was almost as if their platoon leader (or PL for short) was making them catch up for the week off he had given them to familiarise themselves with team procedures. Naruto hadn't seen his old team in weeks, or any of his other peers for that matter. It was just like the old man had told him it would be, the Hidden Leaf had to be wary of others villages that would jump at the chance to take them down and usurp their place amongst the Great Five. The scouting missions they were sent on were more often than not uneventful and boring, but Naruto knew it was simply flexing the muscles on Konoha's part. By appearing to be fully operational and vigilant at the same time, the other villages would watch their step. Unfortunately, increased shinobi appearance throughout Hi no Kuni required more manpower and with the significant loss of shinobi in the last invasion, this meant all shinobi of chūnin rank and higher would be working almost nonstop.

This particular scouting mission was a bitch to handle though. In seventy-two hours they had to cover 80 miles to their sign off point and another 80 back to Konoha. **(1)**

A rustling noise in the background alerted him, causing Naruto to instantly trust a kunai from his sleeve. It was a nice piece of mechanism Hayase showed him to create with a bit of ninja wire and a spring set.

"Relax, it's just me."

Shikamaru knelt down next to Naruto and took the blonde's canteen out of his hand without asking, and took a swing.

"Sure, Shika, no problem. Have a drink, what's mine is yours." Naruto's deadpan expression did not reflect his words. Swiping back his canteen and fixing it to his utility belt, Naruto stood up as the shadow-user cleansed his face from dirt and fatigue. "I thought 'take five' meant 'take a five minute break.' What, did Sarugaku forget how to tell time?"

"You should make more of an effort to get along," Shikamaru told him, also getting to his feet after refilling his own canteen. "Anyway, from the looks of it we'll be going home early."

"I doubt it," Naruto shook his head with a wry smile at the thought that was too good to be true. "If Sarugaku so much as arrives a second early, he'll get all agitated. The guy doesn't want to appear to not be doing his job, you know that as well as I do, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I bet you a thousand ryō I'm right." **(2)**

"You never gamble," Naruto's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You're trying to take me for a fool, aren't you? You shifty bastard."

"Wouldn't take much effort," Shikamaru commented under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, let's just say we found something interesting that'll be enough incentive for Sarugaku to let us wrap up this mission up early."

Naruto swung his backpack over his shoulders, "Well then, let's go and see."

…

Moments later, Naruto's stomach churned at the sight of three decapitated corpses that appeared to have just been unearthed. Sarugaku was unperturbed, having probably encountered situations like these before; he knelt down by the decomposing bodies as he swiped away some flies.

"Aren't they just lovely?" Hayase sighed dreamily. "I was just minding my own business, you know, taking a leak and on my way back I stumbled over some uneven earth, and just like that I saw a toe sticking out." How Hayase found this funny, Naruto didn't know but he was afraid to ask. "Whoever tried to ditch these bodies obviously didn't do that good of a job, I mean they were barely a foot deep."

"The bodies appear to have been here for a few days," Rei droned in what Naruto assumed was her 'doctor voice' as she took out a notebook and a camera and slipped on some latex gloves. "All three subjects indicate their decapitation was post-mortem… Their skins bare many scars, some of which have already faded… whatever business they were in, it was rough."

"Rough business, huh?" Sarugaku reached for Rei's backpack and retrieved a pair of latex gloves, slipping them on and peeling away the kimono one of the corpses was wearing. "Just as I thought, these guys were members of a yakuza."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and knelt next to his senior, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did so. "What makes you think that?"

"See these marks?" Sarugaku tapped a finger on the man's neck.

Under the grimy dirt, Naruto could vaguely read the kanji for 'Kuroda-gumi.' "Ahuh… Looks like they got what was coming to them," Naruto didn't feel sympathy for the deceased, they probably weren't the best of folks anyway. "Standard procedure is to document this and send a copy to the nearest settlements, right?"

"Right," Rei confirmed. "I will begin with documenting, I'll make a copy for the nearest-"

"That won't be necessary, Nakamura," Sarugaku decided. "The nearest settlement is Tanzaku Gai, a city well known for its casinos, red light districts _and_ their yakuza organisations. Something tells me these three weren't just some lowlife thugs-"

"What gave that away, the three dead bodies buried miles outside the city outskirts?" Hayase interjected sarcastically.

"-they're too well dressed," Sarugaku finished, and he made a good point. Though they were covered in dirt, these men were buried in some expensive looking clothing; they couldn't have been the regular, dime a dozen kind of thugs. The marks around around hands and fingers indicated they were also stripped from their jewelry by whoever burried them out here. "We're going to document this, but we're not sending a copy to Tanzaku Gai's police department. We're going to report back to our PL and he'll decide what we'll do next."

Naruto eyed Shikamaru for a response; the lazy genius merely shrugged indifferently so Naruto tried anyway. "Standard procedure-"

"Standard procedure is to follow the chain of command, Uzumaki," Sarugaku cut him off. "As TL, this is my call to make and I'm making it. Nakamura, I'll be waiting for your report back at camp. Hayase, help me pack up, you two rookies stay with Nakamura." Sarugaku left no room for argument and left quickly after giving instructions, with Hayase right behind him.

Naruto glared at the retreating form of Sarugaku. "That guy has issues."

Rei shrugged as she dutifully took notes. "Uzumaki, let it be. He's the TL, he gets to call the shots – not you."

"I didn't say-"

"Let it go, Naruto," Shikamaru fell in to avoid another argument. "We're the rookies here, let them decide how and what. It's his ass on the line anyway."

"Fine. That doesn't mean I have to like it, though." Naruto leaned against tree and took watch as Rei began to take pictures with her camera and made notes.

Three weeks in and he still hadn't made much progress in getting along with his teammates. It went without saying, he and Shikamaru got alone fine as they used to be rather good friends as kids, but the other three were different. Rei was unusually cold and shot him down whenever he tried to talk to her; Hayase was so much like Jiraiya there were very few conversations they had that wasn't strictly about girls which made the guy an obnoxious tool and Sarugaku… well, he was a lost cause from the get-go.

Naruto could only hope he would earn his promotion early and get the hell out of the Border Patrol Guard as it was neither interesting nor challenging as he had hoped.

-ooo-

(The Next Day)

Naruto woke up in his apartment a little later than usual, having arrived home only a few hours into the early morning. The journey back to Konoha was uneventful and boring; much like the majority of scouting missions they were assigned to. As per usual, Naruto headed to Ichiraku's for a few bowls before heading back to his apartment, tired and smelly. Perhaps he shouldn't have stayed up a little longer to learn the principles behind water-based ninjutsu.

Fatigued, Naruto stumbled into his kitchen setting on some coffee and went into the bathroom to get freshen up. It struck him with a sense of relief today his team would get switched off scout rotation for a couple of days. Even with his immense stamina, scouting mission took it out of him mentally as much as physically.

Naruto ate his fill; as he ate he took out a scroll on water-based ninjutsu and continued to read up on an offensive water type ninjutsu that could prove useful against multiple opponents. The principle was somewhat familiar to a few wind-based ninjutsu he had gotten down in past weeks so it wouldn't take too long to get it down.

He kept a mindful eye on the clock in his kitchen. 'I'd better get going if I don't want Sarugaku to bitch at me all day again.'

…

Naruto rushed out of his apartment and took to the rooftops as he headed towards the Hokage Tower for today's briefing. Today Team 312 would be put off scouting rotation. Usually each team went on deployment for three weeks, and then got downtime for another week before being put back on the scouting roster. Though his team had only been on two weeks' worth of scouting missions, they were still on the roster scheduled for downtime, which had also been cut down to four days rather a full week to compensate for Konoha's efforts in maintaining a hundred percent functionality.

"You're actually on time for once," Shikamaru noted a few minutes later.

"Morning to you too," Naruto responded dryly. "Where are the others?" Naruto looked around, they were standing outside the Hokage Tower and it seemed none of his teammates were around. "Inside?"

"Inside," Shikamaru nodded. "I told them I'd wait out here for you."

"I was late once, Shikamaru. Once," Naruto shook his head as he brushed past Shikamaru and walked into the huge cylinder-shaped tower in which the Hokage resided. "We're scheduled for downtime today, right?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't know."

"What _do _you know?"

"A whole lot more than you, that's for sure." Shikamaru put very little effort in his comebacks, yet they still always managed to bother Naruto who in this instance opted to flip-off his perpetually lazy teammate as they walked side by side.

Still, Naruto had to hand it to Shikamaru. The lazy genius was knowledgeable on a lot of things having grown up with a well known shinobi strategist father and a mother who was a qualified chūnin, not to mention hailing from one Konoha's most prominent shinobi clans. Much of this knowledge on the shinobi world, Shikamaru had shared with Naruto.

Prior to his promotion, Naruto had the simplistic understanding that one could become a Kage simply by traversing the ranks between genin to jōnin and eventually be appointed by the current Hokage. How _wrong_ he had been. Shikamaru explained to him that such a system simply wouldn't work with a powerful shinobi village as Konoha, which had thousands of shinobi within its ranks. His ignorance wasn't necessarily his fault though, not if you considered the fact military structure wasn't even covered in the academy (and if it was, he probably slept through or missed those lessons) nor did Kakashi take the time to explain it to his team like Asuma had done for Shikamaru, Ino and Chōji.

With Nara's assistance and a handbook from Rei, Naruto came to understand Konoha's military force was divided into various departments, organisations, divisions and so on. To name a few, Konoha had its Border Patrol Guard, the Intelligence Department, Interrogation & Torture Force and Cryptanalysis Division - each dedicated to covering Konoha on certain field they specialised in. To realise his dream, Naruto would have not only have to simply be promoted to jōnin, he would have to be 'promoted' to more prominent organisations within Konoha's shinobi ranks in order to gain support from his peers and to become a well-rounded shinobi knowledgeable of all shinobi playing fields; in short, a viable candidate for the seat of Hokage, a position upon which the Daimyō, his delegates and Konoha's elite convened on.

What Naruto found particularly interesting was that each sect within Konoha's military structure had its own traditions and codes of conduct. For example, the elitists from Intelligence Department always wore grey military-esque uniforms with facemasks or bandages covered around their faces and were of very few choice words. The intimidating (_and questionably sane_) members of Torture & Interrogation Force wore the same sort of military suits under black trench coats and bandanas (often to hide their own hideous scars). Members of the Marine Division (Naruto had no idea Konoha even had a marine division) always wore blue garb over their wetsuits and had water apparatuses on their waists at all times.

Naruto along with Shikamaru had been signed to the Nijū Shōtai, the twentieth platoon of Konoha's Border Patrol Guard, a department dedicated to tracking and reporting foreign influence (and in some cases domestic influence) throughout Hi no Kuni. Their assigned missions mostly consisted out of border patrol, scouting, and long duration missions at stations, checking up on traps set by the other platoons and investigating matters of interests, which could range from fluctuations in crime to highway robbery. Naruto learned the lower the number of your platoon, the more seasoned your colleagues were and the tougher your missions would be. Each platoon had a minimum of forty members and was divided in teams of fives, often named after the team leader for convenience.

…

Rei had saved them a seat next to her in the briefing room. "I see you have finally taken the time to join us, Uzumaki."

"I was late once, Rei. When are you guys gonna let that go?" Naruto took a seat next to Rei, a rather stoic medical kunoichi on his team whose demeanour was colder than anyone else he knew. "I'm sorry I cost us that one lousy, stinking mission to-"

"Pipe down, Uzumaki," Sarugaku ordered from the far left seat on their row. "The PL is here."

Naruto looked at Shikamaru with an irritable expression; the shadow-user merely shrugged and slumped in his chair as their platoon leader took his position behind the lectern and the briefing started.

"Alright boys 'n girls, who's missing?" Their platoon leader Kizu Enrō took a head count before he continued. "Today's rotation schedule! Teams 308 to 312, you guys got some downtime for the next week. Yes, I said a full week and yes, there's a catch. You guys will have to run some errands for the Armoury Administration due to lack of manpower." Almost immediately several shinobi gave shouts of indignation, but their burly platoon leader wasn't having any of it. "Pipe down!" Enrō ordered loudly. "TLs of teams 308 to 312, I have your mandates here come and collect them after briefing."

"Yes, sir." Sarugaku was the only team leader that actually replied.

"Now then," Enrō continued, "There have been several reports of nuke-nin the borderlands roughly fifty miles south of-…"

-ooo-

(Konoha's Armoury Administration Building)

A while later Team 312 stood together in the Armoury Administration's warehouse facilities below ground level. Lack of manpower was a bit of an understatement as the facility was practically abandoned. Sarugaku walked past each of them and handed out clipboards filled with orders on equipment and materials that needed to be delivered and collected. "Alright, we'll get the job done much quicker if we just delegate the workload," Sarugaku told them as he hand each of them a clipboard with information on them. "Rei, since it's your expertise you'll be handling the medical supplies."

"Understood." With that Rei took off into another direction.

"Hayase, you and I will be handling these prototype demolition kits. From what they're telling me, only ANBU operatives can get their hands on these babies, so uh… We'll take care of that."

Naruto frowned looking down on the orders on his clipboard that were identical to Shikamaru's. "Why do we have to deliver all this boring stuff while you get the cool prototypes?" Naruto gestured to the hundreds of stacked boxes in the warehouse facility with his clipboard to illustrate his point. "These orders need to go all over the place, it'll take us forever just to find them."

"Seniority, Uzumaki," Sarugaku responded coolly.

"Seniority my-"

"When he's right, he's right!" Hayase added with a slap to Naruto's shoulder as the oldest members of Team 312 took off.

"Great," Naruto swore under his breath. "Let's get this over with, I want to get in some training today." Naruto set the clipboard down on one box and then stacked the box on another two. "Come on, Shika."

Shikamaru stared at him with a dry expression. "Naruto, do you ever use your clones for anything other rushing your opponents?"

"Right…" Naruto sweat-dropped, feeling incredibly stupid for not having thought of that himself. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Pillars of smoke burst out around them as twelve Naruto-clones appeared and took off with their own clipboards, exploriing the giant warehouse facility.

"Incredible! That's the Kage Bunshin jutsu, isn't it?"

Naruto turned to the source of the voice and found a young girl their age standing by corner. "My name is Shiho," she introduced herself as she approached them with an outstretched hand and a clipboard in another, held over a small square parcel. "I work downstairs."

Shiho was a tall and slender girl their age with light blond hair and pale skin; she wore a lab coat over her regular clothes and a pair of glasses.

"Downstairs?" Shikamaru repeated.

Shiho immediately clapped her hands over her mouth and accidently poked herself in the eye with her clipboard though the damage was decrease due to her wearing glasses. "Ouch… I'm not supposed to tell anyone of the secret floor below this one so please keep it quiet."

"She's an oddball, isn't she?" Naruto whispered to Shikamaru rather audibly, pointlessly using the clipboard to hide what he was doing.

"Don't be rude, Naruto," Shikamaru chided. "Rest assured your secret is safe with us," Shikamaru nodded to Shiho.

"May I know your names?" Shiho enquired with a soft tone, indicating how shy and socially awkward she was.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied with his usual flamboyant bravado.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"You two are both chūnin?" Shiho asked, to which the pair nodded. "Oh, wow. That's rather unusual, you two look like you could be my age."

"How old are you?"

"Thirteen, I'm turning fourteen in five months."

Instantly Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he snapped out of his perpetually lazy demeanour. "You're younger than both of us, yet you're working for the Armoury Administration in a secret level below this one? You must be quite the kunoichi. I assume you're a chūnin, too?"

"I am indeed," Shiho confirmed. "I graduated the academy over four years ago though."

"Woah, you must be some super genius like Shikamaru, huh?" Naruto was genuinely impressed. "He has an IQ of over 200 or something like that," Naruto hurriedly elaborated, not even interested in the slightest with Shikamaru's genius. "I bet you're a lot smarter than this lazy ass, huh?"

"Well, I have IQ of 213," Shiho blushed a brilliant shade of red at the compliment. **(3)**

"What about you, Shika?" Naruto prodded his companion.

"Mine is 208," Shikamaru said the digits with an unusual serious expression. Granted, there weren't many out there with the intellect that could rival his own genius and to meet a shy, withdrawn girl like Shiho who not only rivalled him but whose IQ surpassed his must have been somewhat surprising, if not shocking.

Naruto burst out laughing, punching Shikamaru in the arm. "Ha! I knew you weren't smartest kid our age, suck it Shika. There go your bragging rights."

Shiho stifled a laugh with some difficulty. "Well I'm sure- wait, did you just say you were of the Nara Clan?" Shikamaru nodded and Shiho instantly made a swoon-like noise. "You must be related Nara Shikaku!"

'A bit of a late reaction,' Naruto noted with a sweat-drop.

"He's my father."

"I knew it! You look just like him!" Shiho exclaimed. "I met your father once, it was a few months ago. He mentioned he had a son my age graduating soon – that was you!"

Naruto couldn't quite grasp why this exciting news and by the looks of it neither could Shikamaru. "What was Shika's dad doing down here, Shiho-chan?"

"Shiho-chan, oh my how familiar…" Shiho said it more to herself to anyone else, hence it went unnoticed by Naruto. "I'm afraid I can't tell you Uzumaki-san. Everything that goes down below is an A-ranked secret and I'll be in enough of trouble if anyone finds out of what I've already let slip."

"Come on!" Naruto goaded her with an infectious grin. "We're comrades aren't we? You can trust us – this is Shikuru's son, remember?"

"Shikaku," Shikamaru corrected him with visible annoyance.

"Right, it's just that I prefer Shikuru. Shikaku reminds me of Shukaku and he's one mean son of a-"

"I get it."

"Right," Naruto said again.

Shiho giggled; from the sound of it and her expression it wasn't something she did often. "You two are quite the pair… I suppose I can show you what's below, I hope Gikan-sensei won't mind. We don't get much company."

Naruto looked to Shikamaru and nodded; they followed Shiho as she led the way down past the stairs cases and elevators to and secluded area of the warehouse. Shiho looked around, finding no one close she turned back to the wall and formed a ram hand seal to channel her chakra before she placed her palm against the concrete.

Immediately hairline cracks shone a vibrant blue and the wall gave away as Shiho passed through it, followed shortly by the pair of chūnin behind her as they shared brief looks of suspicion.

…

Minutes later they stopped before huge double doors wrought from thick grey steel; it was somewhat grimy and looked as if it hadn't been attended to a while. Next to it was a computer console where one would have to input the password to gain entry.

"Please don't wander around inside, it can be very dangerous," Shiho turned around as she said, the seriousness the tried to conveye was somewhat stinted by the odd pair of glasses she wore. "Do you understand? I'm not supposed to be showing around anyone who isn't authorised."

Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged glances again. "Sure."

Shiho turned back to the grey blast doors and the computer console. "Would you look away, please?" A quick glance over her shoulder put her concerns to rest as Naruto and Shikamaru covered their eyes. "One can never be too certain with shinobi… no offence."

"None taken."

Naruto thumbed towards Shikamaru. "What he said."

A series of beeping tones sounded as Shiho punched in the code on the console, followed by the audible groaning of metal as the doors parted and blinding light broke through the cracks in the dark cavern-like part of Armoury Administration building.

"Welcome to Floor Zero – the _real_ Floor Zero," Shiho smiled at her new companions. "Follow me." And follow they did, as Shiho walked through the door in a large spacious area filled with many desks and hi-tech equipment scattered around on benches and pinned against walls. "Only two of us work down here," Shiho explained. "When I was eight, I noticed my sensei snuck a hidden IQ test in my homework - you've had this special piece of homework too, right?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Everyone did, actually. I was the only one to figure out it was an IQ test though."

"So was I," Shiho beamed. "I noticed the test was odd and somewhat illogical, so I went to my sensei and she revealed to me I was the only one that noticed it was an IQ test. They diagnosed mine to be 213 and offered me the chance to graduate early."

"Why'd you take it? Didn't you miss your friends at all?" Naruto asked.

Shiho gave an awkward shrug. "I didn't have any friends. Nor was I talented in any form of shinobi combat. The only reason I enrolled was because my parents wanted me to, so I took it and became a scientist for Konoha. I was never much of a fighter to begin with."

"What is it you do down here?" Naruto stopped by a workbench to pick up what seemed to be an ordinary singular piece of makibishi. "You guys handle the equip-"

"Don't touch that!" Shiho slapped away his hand and sighed, checking up on the lone piece of makibishi with a careful eye. "These aren't regular caltrops, they're explosives. They serve as landmines on the battlefield, rather than just hinder the enemy."

"Sounds great," Naruto's eye wandered to a lone wakazashi. "What does that do-"

"It carries a launching mechanism for a new type of ninja wire – can we please keep moving? Gikan-sensei will get really upset if he catches us messing with his work," Shiho warned. "Come, I'll show you where I work. I don't have as much expertise as Gikan-sensei so I'm usually left to test out the smaller stuff like this," Shiho held up the small parcel she been carrying.

"So this Gikan-sensei has created all of this?" Naruto let out a lengthy whistle. "That's impressive."

"Oh, no we don't invent all of these. We just test them and write up reports which determine whether they'll be used in combat or not," Shiho stopped by the far end of the spacious room and stooped by her desk. "This is where I work. Today I'll be writing up a report on this device," Shiho placed the parcel on her desk and pulled up her chair.

Naruto eye the parcel as Shiho unwrapped it carefully. "What's this do?"

"It's a chakra sensor," Shiho replied. "With a simple point and click this little thing will gauge the chakra emitted from any person, weapon or even seal. They can be quite useful when looking for booby traps out in the battlefield."

"How do you know it works?"

"You ask a lot of questions, Uzumaki-san."

"Sorry."

"No, don't apologise," Shiho smiled again, "I actually quite enjoy the attention… it's nice." The oddball genius held up the small metallic device in front Naruto and showed him the display screen. "All these small stripes work like a graph, the lower the chakra emitted, the more this arrow," she tapped the screen for emphasis, "Will lean on the left. For example, do you have an exploding tag on you?"

"Yeah, sure." Naruto dove into his pouch attached to the small of his back by a utility belt and withdrew a single exploding tag. "Here."

Shiho placed the tag on an unusual looking slab of material on her desk and then pointed the chakra sensor device's antenna to the tag. "Now we press this button and… there we have it." She held up the display again for the two to see. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

"It is," Shikamaru nodded. "You said it could gauge person's chakra too, right?" The shadow-user raised an eyebrow at his blond-haired teammate which went unnoticed. "Could you please-"

"Of course!" Shiho was eager to please and raised the device to Shikamaru. "Let's see what you got."

"Actually, I meant-"

"It appears you chakra reservoir is average," Shiho declared.

Shikamaru sighed. "Thank you."

"Now let's try you, Uzumaki-san," Shiho said with an exciting tone. "You seem energetic, I'm sure you'll do great!"

Naruto held up his hand and shook his head. "No, I'd rather not-"

'Too late now, Naruto,' Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at the device in Shiho's hand.

"In- Incredible!" Shiho exclaimed. "At first glance it jumped to extremely high levels and it's not stopping!" The device screeched and its lights began to blink erratically for a moment before it failed all together and the device imploded, prompting Shiho to drop it on her desk. "Un- unbelievable!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously, the damage already done. "Well you knew I could do the Kage Bunshin, so why did you even bother checking?"

"I'm too curious for my own good!" Shiho appeared as if was about to burst in tears. "Gikan-sensei is going to be so upset!"

"Who's going to be upset?" a new voice demanded.

The voice belonged to an elderly man with grey beard, unhealthily looking grey skin with oversized goggles, wearing a white lab coat over his brown tunic. "Shiho, who are these two?"

"Gikan-sensei!"

"What are you doing, Shiho?" Gikan demanded as he approached them in hobbling fashion, raising his cane to the pair of chūnin. "Chūnin, as tokubetsu jōnin I outrank you. State your names and registration codes!"

"Uzumaki Naruto, registration code 012607."

"Nara Shikamaru, registration code 012611." **(4)**

Gikan hobbled closer and poked Naruto in the chest with a suspicious glance at Shikamaru. "You are related to Nara Shikaku, his son if I'm not mistaken." Shikamaru nodded to this. "I requested to pull you out of academy around the same time as Shiho but your father refused. How short-sighted of him, you would've done some good down here. Don't get me wrong, your father is a brilliant man and an excellent shogi player but he made a mistake refusing to let you come down here."

"I-"

Gikan was not interested in hearing a response and turned his eye to Naruto. "And you, Uzumaki Naruto the…" Gikan glanced at both Shiho and Shikamaru for a moment, "Infamous prankster of Konoha. I've heard of many of your exploits. What you did with the Hokage Monument? Priceless. That old fart Hiruzen couldn't stop laughing about it the last time he was here."

"Ehm… thank you?"

Once again his reply went unheard. "Shiho, what are these two doing down here? You know this place is a secret." Again the scientist gave no time for response. "You two best not tell anyone or we'll all be in big trouble. Now get out!"

"Let's go, Naruto."

"Right."

As the pair walked away to leave, Shiho turned to Gikan and said in a rather hurried excitement. "Gikan-sensei, Uzumaki-san broke the new chakra sensor – his chakra levels must be enormous! Please allow me to run some tests so I can take notes."

"You two, stop!" Gikan pulled his beard many times as he grumbled. "Uzumaki, did you truly break this prototype device?" Gikan gestured to the broken device with his cane to which Naruto nodded. "Right then, you're not going anywhere."

Naruto groaned audibly. 'You've got to be kidding me.'

-ooo-

(Sometime Later)

"Are we done yet?"

"No, now be silent boy!"

Shikamaru watched with idle amusement as Naruto sat down a table, shirtless and with many wires attached to his torso and temples whilst Gikan ran tests with several other devices. "Don't complain Naruto, it's least we can do for coming down here."

"WE?" Naruto repeated. "You're just standing there and- OUCH! Put down that cane old man, I have no trouble with beating on the eldery – Ouch! Stop it!"

"Be silent, boy!" Gikan struck the blond on his head with his cane again. "We're almost done, now be silent or I'll make Shiho give you a physical!"

"Gikan-sensei!" Shiho's face turned completely red. It wasn't a far stretch from the constant blush she had with a shirtless Naruto around. In a vain attempt to stop ogling the blond, the young genius examined Naruto's unusual gear.

"This flak jacket is very unusual, Uzumaki-san. It's heavier and more durable than the one I have at home, plus it has these shoulder guards you don't see on the other models."

"That flak is from before your time, Shiho," Gikan told her, keeping his eyes fixated on the devices before him. "That's a first generation flak. I have one, as would most shinobi my age. They were preceded by the armour shinobi such as the Shodaime and Nidaime used to wear in combat." **(5)**

"Oooh! Where did you get such an incredible memento, Uzumaki-san?"

"The old man gave it to me as a present," Naruto pointed towards the tantō attached to flak jacket. "The tantō is from the same era, I think. They both belonged to Jiji- Ouch! Stop hitting me with that cane!"

"Then stop moving, you insolent child!" Gikan struck Naruto again just as Shiho pulled the tantō out of its sheath.

"Incredible! This tantō is undoubtedly very old but you can see it's been kept in pristine conditioning." Shiho marvelled over the ninja dagger, running a hand over its smooth metal. "The guard has something inscribed on it."

"It does?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, only to be struck again. "I didn't move!"

"I apologise," Gikan was completely unrepentant. "This is just so much fun," he admitted with a croaky laugh.

Naruto looked as he was about to murder the old man.

"What does it say," Shikamaru asked.

"It says 'the will of fire shall'-"

"Illuminate the village," Gikan finished. "It's a saying the Shodai used to say a lot. Hiruzen was always a sucker for that one."

"How do you know it's Jiji's?" Naruto asked, and force once Gikan did not strike him for moving.

"We talk," Gikan replied vaguely. "Now then… looks like we're done here."

No sooner had he said it, had Naruto taken off the patches, rushed past Shiho to grab his gear and rushed past Shikamaru to drag him out of the room.

"We'll come by to visit later, Shiho-chan!"

"Why that insolent little-!"

"Gikan-sensei!"

-ooo-

"I'm telling you that old man is bat shit crazy, Shika! He must've hit me at least fifty times!" Naruto said as they walked down the street, still fiddling with his jackets and pouches. "Hey wait a minute…" Naruto reached into his pouch having felt an odd weight in it and held up a package of explosive makibishi. "Shiho-chan, you're awesome!"

"She snuck those in while Gikan was running tests on you," Shikamaru said.

"Well thanks for telling me! What if I slipped and fell, huh? It'd be splattered all of the damn place." Shikamaru shrugged, unrepentant. "I hate you."

"They don't work like that. You need to actually hold them before you scatter them, so you can key your chakra to them. Only a significant force like a footstep will trigger them to go off, that or if you just detonate them by channelling your chakra. They work just like exploding tags that way."

"And when did she tell you all this?"

"While Gikan-san was beating you up."

"You tell anyone that happened and I'll kill you. Who's going to want me as Hokage if they found out an old man beat the shit out of me for an hour straight? Nobody, that's who!"

"You seem to care a lot about what people think of you."

"Old habits die hard," Naruto grumbled under his breath.

"What?"

Naruto got an agitated look in his face. "Of course I do, I'm going to be the Hokage someday, aren't I? The people actually need to respect me if I'm going to realise my dream, genius."

"Right."

"Ah, screw you! I'm going to train." With that, Naruto took off to the nearest training ground.

Shikamaru simply shrugged and went his own way.

-ooo-

A few hours later Naruto headed back home from the training ground after spending a good few hours on getting down some ninjutsu. With the help of the Kage Bunshin he had gotten down a few simple fire jutsu after realising he had more or less neglected that element.

Though covered in sweat and dirt with a great sense of fatigue, Naruto felt good about himself. He reckoned he could probably destroy the Naruto from a few weeks ago within seconds. He had certainly branched out his ninjutsu like the old man had advised him and now knew at least five jutsu of each element, the Shuriken Kage Bunshin and its kunai variation as well as one of his new favourite techniques, the Exploding Shadow Clone. His genjutsu was still rather limited but he would brush up on that in due time.

On his way home Naruto stopped by the grocery store; minutes later he walked out of the small establishment though he didn't get far before a familiar voice called to him.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned around and saw Sakura waving from a distance. "Sakura-chan..." It only now just hit him how long he hadn't seen his old teammate, it had been a month since he last saw her, Sasuke and Kakashi. "What have you been up to?"

"We just got back from a mission to a village not far from here. Just a simple escort mission, nothing too difficult." Sakura prodded the blond with her elbow as they began walking further down the road. "What about you, you're a hotshot chūnin now, aren't you? It must be very excited leading your own team."

"I'm still a rookie, so I won't be leading my own team for a while, Sakura-chan," Naruto told her. "As for my team, well… I'm stuck with Shikamaru, a girl as cold as ice, a perverted swordsman and a team leader with a knack for explosions and a giant stick up his ass."

"Trouble in paradise?" Sakura cheekily quipped.

"What makes you think being a chūnin is paradise in the first place?" Naruto asked with a shake of his head. "It's mostly scout missions and running errands for rookies like me. To be perfectly honest, I'm really starting to miss you guys, even Sasuke."

Sakura smiled kindly as they both felt a wave of nostalgia. "So, this team leader of yours doesn't like you, does he?"

"It borderlines on hatred," Naruto replied.

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Sakura firmly shook her head decisively. "You always seem to bring the best out of people, Naruto, so give it some time and he'll come around – they all will."

Naruto was taken aback by that for a moment; Sakura was never this nice to him before. Maybe it was the nostalgia in the air, maybe she done some growing up of her own in the last few weeks _or _maybe it was that Naruto had finally earned her respect after saving her from Gaara. "Well, thanks, Sakura-chan. That means a lot to me coming from you."

"Don't mention it, Naruto." They fell silent for the next few minutes as they walked side by side down the road; it wasn't until Sakura's route home took her right his straight on when they stopped.

"See ya, Sakura-chan. It's been nice catching up."

"Yeah, you too…"

Naruto held up his hand in greeting, waving over his shoulder as he continued his path to the apartment.

"Naruto!"

The blond turned around with a quizzical expression. "What is it, Sakura-chan?"

"I… I never got the chance to thank you properly for saving me." Judging by her expression, Naruto could tell how this had been eating at her for a while now. "So, I wanted to say thank you."

"Don't mention it, Sakura-chan. You would've done the same for me." Naruto smiled at her reassuringly.

It wasn't until Sakura was left to her own devices, she sighed with a sense of frustration. "That's the thing, Naruto… I don't think I would've. I'm just so weak…"

-ooo-

The week of downtime went by quicker than Naruto had expected or appreciated. For the most part their missions could be done within a few minutes with the right amount of teamwork, but with Naruto and Shikamaru being rookies and Sarugaku not particularly liking either of them, they were left do the majority of the work whilst the other three took it easy.

Luckily for Naruto though, he usually managed to finish sooner than they did with his Kage Bunshin technique and thus would be off to the training grounds early whilst his army of Kage Bunshin took care of his and Shikamaru's workload.

On their last day of the downtime, Sarugaku had taken it to himself to devise a training course with his sabotage and trap-setting expertise. Currently, they were going a border patrol simulated mission and were shifting through formations as contraptions created by Sarugaku set off and launched projectiles at them.

"Formation D4, keep moving!" Sarugaku shouted, his hands in the ram hand seal.

A strange contraption that oddly resembled a giant catapult-sling hybrid launched a volley of shuriken towards Naruto, Shikamaru, Hayase and Rei. Naruto shifted forward with two kunai held in reverse grip and deflected the projectiles coming his and Rei's direction, who as their medic had to be protected at all times.

Sarugaku ran next to the team on ground level as they continued to hop from branch to branch. "Good! Now, move to formation A5!"

In the distance, Sarugaku had strategically placed straw dolls with crudely carved Iwa headbands as though they were going to ambush them. Naruto threw a volley of kunai and struck three down whilst he continued to defend Rei, being charged with her guard. It was extremely boring compared to Hayase's roll of main offence as he was considered the strongest on their team by their TL.

Hayase did an unnecessary front flip as he threw two handfuls of shuriken. Naruto, despite himself, had to admit that was kind of _cool._ 'He's an cocky bastard but he's got skill,' Naruto thought as the senior chūnin deflected an entire volley of kunai by himself with but one of his dual kodachi.

"Hayase, deflate your ego! Allow Nara and Uzumaki to help you deflect projectiles, you're going to miss one or two at some point and that can result in death or injury. You know that is unacceptable!" For all his faults, Sarugaku knew what he was talking about. They shared a bond of mutual mutual dislike Naruto knew their TL was at least competent. Even if he regarded Naruto as nothing but a talentless and insubordinate braggart.

"I'll be fine!" Hayase shouted back.

It was just as he said it when another volley came their way, quicker than before and Hayase failed to act on time. However, Naruto's instincts kicked in and within seconds, he grabbed onto Rei's eblow and flung her towards Shikamaru who barely caught her; thrust out his palms in front of him with chakra racing down his arms.

"Fūton! Reppūshō!"

The wind blasted from his hands and launched Naruto backwards with incredible force, completely blasting the lethal projectiles off course. Naruto spun violently through the air, and grunted as he broke through a thick branch, but he recovered and flipped whilst midair and planted his feet firmly against a tree. Luckily the thick body armour of his flak jacket took the brunt of the damage.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed only momentarily, he didn't need his IQ of over 200 to realise Naruto had changed a lot in the way he carried himself and acted, but he hadn't anticipated witnessing a new jutsu so soon, considering it had barely been a month since they got promoted. Regardless, the shadow-user smiled lazily at the blond and gave him thumbs up. "Nice one."

"Naruto!" Rei was his side instantly and reached for field kit.

Naruto held up his hand, noting with some curiosity Rei had called him by his firstname for the first time. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"You're bleeding," Rei pulled his hand closer to examine the piece of wood lodged into his forearm. "We need to treat this. A few inches down and it would've spliced an artery."

Naruto grimaced, the wound was about to close up seamlessly before her eyes any second now. If only he had a means of distracting her-

"Uzumaki! _How did you do that?_"

For once, Naruto was glad Sarugaku was such an ass. "What are you talking about?"

"Your file didn't say anything about you being able to perform such techniques. _Explain yourself!_" Sarugaku demanded loudly, giving Naruto an opportunity to withdraw his hand from Rei's absentminded grip.

Rei glared at the team leader. "Sarugaku-taichō, what does it matter? He saved us both doing it and got injured-"

"There's a lot I can do that isn't in that file you got on me, Sarugaku-_senpai,_" Naruto took great pleasure in the look of outrage in Sarugaku's face. "Maybe if you took the time to properly assess me instead of dismissing me as a no-good troublemaker from day one, you would know what I'm capable of."

"Did you know about this?" Sarugaku barked at Shikamaru.

The shadow-user calmly shook his head. "This is the first time I've seen him perform any elemental ninjutsu. He usually sticks to taijutsu and-"

"Rei, tend to Uzumaki's wound and patch him up. I want to see what else he's capable of."

"Sarugaku-taichō!"

Sarugaku matched her glare with his own. "_Rei,_ I will not tolerate any insubordination on my team. You have your orders-"

"It's a work in progress," Naruto lied. He sure as hell was not going have a show and tell and show his teammates all of his jutsu. The Kage Bunshin training method, as absolute torturous the mental fatigue was, was an incredible way of learning new jutsu. In the few hours Naruto could scrape together to train between missions, he had learned quite a few, with well over three thousand hours of work divided amongst ninjutsu, fūinjutsu and even a little on genjutsu. Naruto was also starting the get the hang of chakra control applications, such as straightening metal and his chakra control over all have improved because of it. This train of thought got him thinking, 'I should try a hand at summoning Gamabunta in one go, it usually takes me a few tries but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.'

"I'm just glad you were on top of your game there, Uzumaki," Hayase scratched his cheek.

"I'm always on top of my game," Naruto shot back.

Sarugaku opened his mouth to speak again but Shikamaru got their attention. "Guys," the shadow-user spoke, idly staring to the sky. "I think we're going to have to cut training short. It looks like we've been called for a mission."

Naruto looked up into the sky and found a messenger hawk circling above them, cawing loudly as it waited for one of them to stretch out their arm.

The bird perched on Sarugaku's wrist moments later and held out its leg to the chūnin. Sarugaku took the mission scroll of the bird and unfurled it as the hawk took off.

A few moments of silence went by as Sarugaku read the scroll, the rest eyeing him intently and waiting for him to fill them in.

When Sarugaku spoke, his voice was audibly shaking with excitement. "It seems we have been called for a special mission ordered to us directly by our platoon leader," Sarugaku told them. "The report we sent in has set off some flags, and we've been ordered to set out for Tanzaku Gai immediately."

"What, Tanzaku Gai?" Hayase repeated.

"Yes, the police force of Tanzaku Gai may have been fudging the paperwork in regards to criminality. The three Kuroda-gumi corpses we found turned out to be the bosses of the Kuroda-gumi, yet there was not a single report about their disappearances or deaths. We've been tasked to investigate the matter," Sarugaki smirked, "This is a B-ranked mission."

Naruto was relieved it wouldn't be straight back to scouting missions.

Sarugaku rolled up the scroll with a serious expression frowning slightly. "The sun is already going down, so we'll have to move quickly. We will meet at the northern gate in thirty minutes, pack for at least a week. Dismissed!"

Sarugaku, Hayase and Rei promptly disappeared with Shunshins, leaving Naruto and Shikamaru in the training ground. "We really need to learn that jutsu… Anyway, I'll see you at the gate, Shika."

"What about your arm?"

Naruto waved off his concerns with a shrug. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

The shadow-user shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'll see you there."

Naruto gave no response and immediately took off into his own direction.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

I apologise for the hold up, but the response to chapter one was so overwhelming that for a while I didn't think I could top that, nor did I trust myself with the material I had at the time as I didn't want the follow up chapter be such a flop you guys would drop this story like a brick.

Anyway, I'm back and I took my time to plan out the story properly, and though not everything is set in stone, I hope you guys will stick around. I couldn't be happier with the response to chapter one and I look forward to your **reviews.** Here's hoping you like the appearances of Shiho and Gikan (OC), they'll be recurring characters for the remainder of the story. Also, what did you guys think about what I've done so far with Konoha's military structure? I'm trying to portray the most realistic sense of military I can without making it look to modern. I'll expand more on that as the story progressess.

Next chapter we'll see more of Naruto's new skills and after that some story development.

Don't forget to the review!

**Notes:**

**(1)** I always found it strange how the characters in Naruto could travel from one country to another within a day, especially if you look at the maps they print in the data books; so, in this story they'll travel distance at a more realistic pace.

**(2)** I've decided to establish the worth of the ryō as: 10 ryō being equal to 1 pound/dollar/etc. So, 200 ryō would equal to 20 bucks in w/e currency. Yes, this also means high bounties will cut down, so Asuma's 50 million ryō bounty will now be 5.

**(3) **That's right, there's a new genius in town, Shikamaru. I think y'all can guess where this is going, and no; that isn't all I have in store for Shiho.

**(4)** Shikamaru's actual Ninja Registration code as revealed in the data books.

**(5)** Just adding a little fandom history to the story. If you guys forgot what Naruto's flak jacket looks like, just go to the Naruto Wikipedia and search "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja"; you'll see a picture of an adult Naruto wearing the standard jōnin uniform but with a different flak jacket – the very same he wears in this story.


	3. Chapter 3: Proving Your Worth

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 30-09-11_

_Updated: 06-12-11_

_**Don't forget to review. That always helps for quick updates and it'll only take you a few seconds.**_

* * *

><p>CH3: Proving Your Worth<p>

* * *

><p>Team 312 wasted no time in assembling at the northern gate and embarking on their journey to the city of Tanzaku Gai. Naruto had never been there before; all he ever knew was Konoha and until recently Nami no Kuni. Scout rotation didn't leave much time for sightseeing either; it was pretty much scout point A to point B and keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious. Occasionally they had a few parcels to deliver here and there but that was always on a tight schedule. It didn't leave Naruto with a lot of time to explore the beautiful countryside of Hi no Kuni and this was no different. Just a few hours ago a messenger hawk delivered their mission assignment. They were tasked with investigating the Tanzaku Gai criminal underworld, and by implication, the police force as well. Naruto had never been on an investigation mission; to him it actually sounded pretty strange for a shinobi to be tasked with a task such as this, but then again it also made sense. Shinobi were trained in subtlety and information gathering. If anything they were perfect for investigations like these.<p>

"Alright, we're here," Sarugaku announced, landing in a crouch and holding up his fist to signal this team to stop. "Let's break for camp, the sun is about to set. Hayase and I will go scout the area while you three set up our campsite. Nakamura, you're in charge. We'll be back in an hour."

Rei nodded, "Understood, Sarugaku-taichō." The kunoichi turned to her fellow rookies, "You two set up camp and gather firewood while I raise a genjutsu layer to hide our presence. Once we get a fire going, we can eat. I've packed enough premade meals for all of us, so feel free to ask."

"I'm good." Naruto dropped his backpack under a tree and reached for one of the shovels Rei passed them. "Alright, don't slack off, Shikamaru. Don't even think of making me do all the work."

"Why not?"

Naruto shot him an annoyed look, exasperated with the genius' perpetual slothfulness. "Why would I do all the work?"

The shadow user shrugged. "Because you can use your clones to do your work for you," he offered in a rhetoric manner.

"... Right, I knew that." Naruto tucked the shovel under his elbow and made an unusual hand seal; Rei raised an eyebrow at. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

_Poof!_

Rei did a double take as six identical Naruto-clones appeared with pillars of smoke and went to work, chastising the original for being a 'lazy bastard.' Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh as Naruto picked a fight with one of his clones who made the off-handed comment.

"How did you that? Those are solid clones!" Rei looked at Naruto and then Shikamaru with a demanding expression.

Naruto looked at Shikamaru, "What?"

"Don't look at me. The fact you're able to create Kage Bunshin is still an impressive feat, Naruto," Shikamaru shrugged, plopped down on the ground and got comfy.

"Those are Kage Bunshin?" Rei was wide-eyed as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's a B-ranked kinjutsu, how in the hell are you able to create so many?"

Shikamaru smiled at that, earning him a scowl from Rei. "Sorry, Nakamura-san, but six Kage Bunshin aren't a lot, not by Naruto's standards."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto rubbed a finger under his nose in a childish show of conceitedness. "Let's just say this is only a fraction of what I can do."

Rei shook her head, refusing to believe it. "No way!" It was odd to see her lose her composure, even after knowing her only for a few weeks, Naruto saw Rei as the cool type who was never phased by what anyone thought or did, evidently in her indifference towards Hayase frequent tales of one night stands. "A fraction of- Are you out of your mind?"

"Definitely," Shikamaru shrugged with indifference, "But he's not lying."

For a moment Rei's expression went blank, then a frown came to her face and she glared at Naruto. "Just do as your told, Uzumaki." The kunoichi promptly turned around and walked off, leaving a stunned Naruto look at Shikamaru with confusion.

"OK, what did I say?"

Shikamaru shrugged uncaringly and yawned. "I'm not an expert on women, Naruto," the shadow user washed his hands of the matter and stretched out on his sleeping bags, looking up into the sky. "Take it easy, girls aren't meant for us to understand anyway. She'll come around on her own terms. Probably."

"You're a strange one, Shikamaru." Naruto rolled out his own sleeping bag and lied down as his clones gave him dirty looks and some even made derogative comments. 'I need to figure out how to control these idiots.'

'We heard that,' six different voices said in his mind, prompting Naruto yelp and jump up. "OK, if you guys want to take this outside, bring it!" Naruto's eye twitched as one of his clones gave him _the finger_ and stuck out its tongue.

"We _are _outside, you moron."

"Why does _he_ get to be the original? So not fair!"

Shikamaru began chuckled as the clones set off into six separate directions to collect firewood. Naruto shook his head, his hand in the serpent hand seal for a moment before he gripped the earth beneath his feet, gripping onto it as he created a dug in area large enough for them to set up camp. Satisfied with his handiwork, Naruto got off his knee and clapped the dirt of his hands. "That ought to do it."

-ooo-

The next day in the early morning, Naruto crawled out of his sleeping bag, nose twitching to the delightful aroma of breakfast that stirred him out of slumber. He poured some water in his hands from his canteen and washed his face, getting the dirt out of his eyes and yawned.

"Good, you're awake."

Naruto blinked a few times to get the drowsiness out of his system. He hadn't even noticed Rei as she sat down by a fire and was preparing their breakfast. Naruto shuddered, the last time he had breakfast in a forest was during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams and that had certainly _not _gone well. "Barely," Naruto yawned. Naruto reached into his backpack sat next to his sleeping bag and retrieved his flak jacket, he was somewhat cold in the chill morning breeze.

"Your flak jacket is different from ours, why is that?" Rei asked curiously as she offered him a can of nutritious supplements. "We don't have shoulder pads like you do, and yours seems heavier. Why is that?" she asked again.

Naruto spooned a mouthful sat down opposite her. "It's a gift from the old man."

"Old man?"

Naruto chuckled, not many people understood who he was referring to when he said that. "_Hokage-sama,_" he said it as though the title was humorous rather than belonging to one of the greatest shinobi to have ever lived. "He gave me his tantō too." Naruto swiftly reached for the small of his back and unsheathed the dagger and held it out for Rei to examine.

"Hokage-sama gave this to you?" Rei sounded both envious and disbelieving at the same time, though Naruto couldn't quite blame her. Not many would have believed him. "This tantō is different from ours, it's got a curvier edge and it looks like it's been through a lot of battles like your flak."

"That's cause they were the old man's when he was a chūnin, like a century ago." The joke went unnoticed as Rei's eyes widened and her grip on the dagger's handle tightened. "If you don't believe me, it's fine-"

"No, I believe you, Uzumaki."

"Naruto, just call me Naruto. I'm not big on formality."

Rei gave him a comical deadpan stare as she handed him back the tantō. "That much was obvious from day one."

Naruto chuckled, "I make up for it with charm."

"No, you don't."

Naruto hung his head, feigning to be crestfallen and getting a laugh out of Rei in which he joined her.

"I want to apologise for being so cold to you lately." Rei seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the apology. "I was a little jealous, I suppose I'm just easily intimidated by geniuses like you."

Naruto burst out laughing and cupped his mouth with both hands to keep it down. Rei's glared at him but Naruto found it hard to stop laughing and only stopped when she punched him in a painful spot on his arm. "Ouch!" Naruto rubbed his arm.

"What's so funny?"

Naruto frowned, that had hurt. "It's funny you think I'm a genius."

Rei's glare intensified and she bristled. "You're able to use at least one strong Fūton jutsu and a B-ranked kinjutsu with _ease, _both of which you treat as though they're the mere tip of the iceberg_._ Then there's the fact you somehow beat Hyūga Neji and you _claim _to have beaten Sasuke's opponent, Sabaku no Gaara as well as Momochi Zabuza."

"Coming around to that?" Rei gave an icy glare and Naruto gave a shrug in return, he had stopped caring whether or not they believed him weeks ago, figuring they would come to know the truth in due time; unsurprisingly, Rei was first. "For the record, I _did _do those things except for Zabuza, he was toying with me and Sasuke the whole time. That guy was on a completely different level. Luckily we had Kakashi-sensei with us, or we would've been dead long before we got to the Chūnin Exams." Naruto felt a wave of nostalgia; he sure did miss his old team. "And to be completely honest, I only managed to beat Zabuza's apprentice because Sasuke saved my life for the hundredth time… _the son of a bitch_." Naruto inhaled the remains of his food in mere seconds (much to the visible disgust of Rei) and got up, dusting off his trousers.

"How does that not make you a genius if you've already accomplished so much?"

Naruto looked at Rei with a serious expression, a stark contrast to his usual demeanour. "I accomplish those things because I work my ass off. It doesn't come easy to me, Rei-chan. It never has. All those things I accomplished, I accomplished because I train all day, every day."

"Rei-chan?" she repeated.

Naruto chuckled. "I'm not even particularly smart, I just make up for it with guts and instincts. I guess when it comes down to it, that's all you really need… Guts and instincts. You can have all the talent in the world but that means nothing if you don't have the guts and instincts to use it." A few choice words Naruto had heard once came to mind and he grinned at her. " Maybe, if I ever could dream of applying that label to me… I'm a fighting genius."

Rei was stunned by the declaration, though she was saved from giving an answer as Hayase sat up mechanically to the scent of food. "What's for grub?"

…

A while later they stood by the outskirts of the city, Sarugaku gathered them around and gave one of his patented coughs to draw their attention.

"OK, we're about to enter the city. We'll split up here for the time being," Sarugaku decided. "I'm going to the police force headquarters to give them notice of our mission assignment. Hayase and Nakamura, you two keep an eye at the market district. Nara and Uzumaki, I'm placing you by the casinos. Neither of you seem to be the gambling type, so I expect you to behave and stay away from the slot machines. Any questions?"

Rei seemed utterly displeased with her assigned partner but made no comment. Naruto on the other hand didn't really care, he got along with Hayase just fine though he wasn't about to volunteer to take him off her hands.

"Remember to stay vigilant and report your location every fifteen minutes," Sarugaku tapped the headset attached to his neck. "Don't draw attention, just mingle in the crowds. If you see any suspicious behaviour, radio in before you do anything."

"Understood," they replied simultaneously.

-ooo-

(Tanzaku Gai)

Naruto and Shikamaru made their way through the crowds in the city, brushing past civilians as they patrolled the city of Tanzaku Gai. The city was unlike anything Naruto had imagined; it was very different from Konoha. There were lights cables and neon signs everywhere, which would illuminate the city during the night; the roads were somewhat smaller, but much more crowded with people of all kinds. The occasional beast of burden pulled by with wares to be sold by its master; there were more beggars on the street than he had encountered in Wave Country, some of whom were smoking from pipes that gave off disgusting fumes.

"Opium," Shikamaru said with a curl of his nose. "And right on the streets, what exactly is the police force doing?"

Naruto was somewhat surprised not even the occasional policemen they saw on the street seemed bothered by it. In fact, Naruto could've sworn the few pipes he had seen a few policemen smoke pipes that probably did not contain tobacco.

Naruto frowned as they stopped by a stall; he paid the vendor a handful of golden ryō coins and bought a few dango sticks settled in a row on a disposal paper plate, one of which he passed on one to Shikamaru. "Any idea what to look for? Aside from the opium addicts and the policemen that ignore them?"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru obviously wasn't helping and he shrugged. "Sarugaku said to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious."

Naruto looked around as they walked. "Anyone suspicious… That pretty much fits the description for most of the people here." They continued to explore the city for a while, mostly walking back and forth by the casinos and calling in their position and status over the radio every fifteen minutes. It was almost an hour later when a loud commotion nearby alerted them.

"LOOK WHERE THE FUCK YOU'RE GOING!"

Naruto looked at Shikamaru and nodded, setting off to see what was going on. Upon arriving, Naruto saw a tall man in an expensive looking suit and stained but otherwise stylish trench coat hoisting another man foot above ground. A child holding an empty ice cream cone was standing close by, crying her eyes out as her father was getting beaten up, surrounded by another few thugs and scared civilians. The thug kicked the man, levelling him off the ground and sending him crashing into a vendor's cart. "Look what you did to my suit! This thing cost me 5,000 ryō. How are you going to pay for it, EH?"

The ringleader's thugs rushed over to the downed victim and began to repeatedly pummel him as his child began to cry her eyes out.

"Oh my God!"

"Someone should help him…"

"I'm calling the police- ungh!" One would-be whistleblower was punched in the face as he tried to run in the opposite direction and was dragged to the floor where he, too, was beaten viciously by thugs as they kicked and pounded on him.

Naruto was about to step in when Shikamaru grabbed his elbow. "Hold on, we need to call back up," the shadow user told him. He then pressed the radio attached around his neck and called for help. "This is Nara. We've got trouble in the casino district and it's looking pretty ugly."

_"Nakamura here. Nara, we'll be right there."_

_"So am I. The police lieutenant with me has already dispatched a few officers," _Sarugaku added through the radio a second later.

Naruto gritted his teeth as one of the thugs proceeded to rob the man off wallet and offer the cash to the ringleader. The leader counted the money and by the look of his angered expression, the amount was insufficient. With but a mere nod to one of his thugs, they all reached for their swords.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto growled at his partner, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as the thugs held up their bloodied and bruised victim on his knees for public execution. "_Shikamaru!_"

"Go!"

Naruto didn't need to be told twice and dashed forward just as one of the thugs raised his blade and brought it down for a decapitating stroke; Naruto was faster and deflected the blade with his tantō with an icy expression on his face.

_Clang!_

"What the fuck!"

Naruto's nose flared with the disgusting stench of cheap liquor and tobacco smoke as he entered a stalemate with the sword-brandishing thug, holding his tantō in a reverse grip. Naruto easily overpowered the thug, with his tantō in one hand as he reared back his right hand for a palm thrust under his left arm. "Reppūshō!"

The powerful blast of wind hurled the man of his feet and launched him into a stall. Naruto instantly turned around and swung his tantō-wielding fist backwards in his would-be attacker's face, causing him to fly into another comrade and knocking them both out.

_CRACK!_

Just as Naruto turned around he found himself staring a massive earth-encrusted fist, a split second before it smashed into his face and sent him crashing through a wall. Naruto's head was spinning as he found himself lying on dinner table in restaurant, of which all the patrons fled outside. "Ugh... Hi there," he said to the attractive brunette whose meal he had interrupted as he looked up. "Yeah… you should probably get out while you still can."

And get out she did, as though the devil himself was after her. Naruto got out of the wreckage that had once been a booth in the expensive-looking restaurant as the woman high-tailed out of there.

The wall he came crash through gave away and the tall, trench coat wearing man stormed inside. "Do you know who you're fucking with? I'm Gantetsu, a captain of Kuroda-gumi!" Gantetsu was incredibly stall, easily standing at 6'7, wearing an all white, expensive-looking (and stained) high-collar trench coat, over a yellow shirt and blue tie. The yakuza's right hand was still encrusted in jagged rock, making it bigger than Naruto's head. "A Konoha-nin?" Gantetsu seemed genuinely surprised for a moment, but then his gaze turned into a snarl. "I thought we had a fucking deal… It doesn't matter, it's your funeral! Just remember, I'm not some low-life thug. I was an elite chūnin back in Iwa, so prepare yourself for death!"

Blood ran down the side of Naruto's face, it stung his eyes but he kept them open. Another one of those hit and he would probably pass out and then he'd _really_ be in trouble. "What do you mean, 'we had a deal'?"

Gantetsu wasn't interested in answering that question, growling like the monster he was as with a mere flex of his muscles his entire body was covered in a thick earthy crust. "Not good!" Naruto as Gantentsu decided to rush forward with his gigantic earth-covered hand. Naruto back flipped backwards onto the table and continued to perform a series of acrobatic flips to avoid the rampaging rogue shinobi-slash-yakuza boss. Naruto made a tiger hand seal and drew a deep breath, his chest swelling up significantly as he prepared a fire jutsu. The stream of fire never erupted his mouth however as Gantetsu proved to be considerably faster than he appeared and grabbed Naruto's face in his gigantic hand, cancelling out the jutsu. "Eat this!" The yakuza boss slammed Naruto into the ground, a satisfying crack indicated some broken bones, confirmed by Naruto's scream of pain as a powerful sensation coursed through him. "This is what you get for interfering with our affairs, Konoha dog!"

Gantetsu reared back his left hand and it shifted into an even bigger earth fist as the Iwa rogue held Naruto by the neck with his right, his earth-crusted hand was so large it covered most of the blonde's torso. "KENGAN NO JUTSU!"

Naruto narrowly avoided the attack, forcing an enormous amount of chakra through his body to pull off a Shunshin fast enough to ensure he avoid certain death. His escape did not come without a price tag however as the muscle fatigued slowed his reaction and allowed Gantestu to land a glancing hit as the floor he had just vacated exploded in a rain of earth spikes, of which on nicked him in the arm. Naruto grunted but persevered, reacting on pure instincts as he withdrew a flash tag and lodged in the ceiling.

"ARGH!" Fortunately, Gantetsu's height made him an easy target and the blinding light set off by the flash tag bought Naruto some time. The blond jumped up and planted his feet on the ceiling as Gantetsu continued to go berserk and literally run down the walls in the restaurant, unable to find his prey. Naruto exhaled a deep, thankful of the Kyūbi as his dislocated shoulder popped back into its socket on its own accord. 'That Kengan jutsu, it's supposed to be an Iwagakure jutsu, isn't it?' It was one of those rare moments Naruto could actually recall something useful from his academy days. 'Earth is weak to lightning… Fuck! There's only one way to finish this bastard off.' Naruto reached into holster and withdrew a lone kunai blade, detaching himself from the ceiling and landing lightly on his feet just about as the giant regained his sight.

"You little fuck, where are you?" Gantetsu shouted.

"Right here, motherfucker!" Naruto threw the kunai at the yakuza captain just he turned around. "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Midair the kunai began to multiply at a rapid rate, similar to a body of cells undergoing mitosis.

Gantetsu raised his arms in front of him in an X-shaped guard. "You'll have to do better than that to pierce my armour, brat!" Gantetsu came to regret those words not a second later as he suddenly was blasted back by the unexpected detonation of an exploding tag. "Fuck!"

Though he was largely unscathed, the smoke provided Naruto with enough cover to execute the second step of his plan. With a quick hand seal, a clone popped into existence and made a beeline for Gantetsu, jumping on his back and wrapping its arm and legs around the Iwa nuke-nin like a Boa Constrictor just as it began glowing white.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted from the entrance, having dispatched thugs outside.

Naruto's eyes widened and set off instantly, emulating his clone and making a bee line for Shikamaru who he tackled just as the Naruto-clone detonated. "Shika, get down!"

_BOOM!_

The explosion blasted Naruto and Shikamaru out of the establishment due to their proximity; the restaurant simply collapsed as all its support pillars gave in, causing its structure to completely giveaway and collapse with a series of earth shaking tremors.

...

Naruto coughed, completely covered in dust and dirt as he rolled off Shikamaru, whom he had been forced to protect with his body. "You alright, Shikamaru?" Naruto fell on his behind, breathing heavily.

Shikamaru opened his eyes, considerably less covered in dust. "Yeah... I'm just dandy," he replied sarcastically. "Looks like our backup arrived already." It was true, Gantetsu's thugs were being subdued by police forces that outnumbered them, thus quite a few surrendered.

Naruto got to his feet just as his teammates arrived. "What took you guys so long?"

"We got here as fast as we could," Hayase retorted as he helped up Shikamaru. Then turning to his partner he said, "Rei, take a look at their injuries. I'll call Sarugaku-"

"There's no need for that." Their squad leader had just arrived and he didn't look pleased in the slightest as he was accompanied by another policeman with a lieutenant badge embroiled on his blue kimono. "Hayate-san explained to me that the new yakuza in town are lead by rogue shinobi from Iwa. We _were going to_ organise a joint mission to take them all out at their compound but you just went ahead and blew that plan out of the water there, didn't you, Uzumaki?"

"I'm _so _sorry for stopping that bastard executing a man 'cos his coat got dirty!" Naruto replied sarcastically as Rei gave him a quick look over for injuries.

A vein popped up by Sarugaku's cheek and he said coldly: "You're a _malcontent_ and a _liability_ to this team, Uzumaki, and it's about time you realise that. Thanks to you those thugs know we're coming for them. Who knows how many of their high ranked members will go under now?"

"Yeah, it would have looked just fucking _fabulous_ on your record, wouldn't it, taichō?" Naruto spat with venom. "You don't actually care about helping anyone here but yourself. As long as you come out smelling like daisies, you don't give a fuck who else stuck in the shit."

Sarugaku's nostrils flared. "That's enough out of you-"

"Yes is it!" Rei interrupted their tirade at one another. "This isn't helping," she gave both of them a hard stare, "We need to get our act together and think about what we're doing next. Has anyone actually indentified the body?"

"Shit!" Naruto looked to Shikamaru and then to the pile of debris that had once been the restaurant.

...

Gantetsu's body wasn't found.

It appeared the giant was even quicker than Naruto had thought, or tougher - they didn't know, nor did it truly matter. What mattered was the fact he had gotten away and they had no idea how he did or if he had help. With Gantetsu on the run, the odds were likely he would come back with more of his comrades and from what Naruto was hearing, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Iwa dogs, always got a backup plan," Hayase noted with a scowl on his face. It reminded Naruto how much Konoha in general hated Iwagakure. He hadn't conformed to the line of thought since he was the one being hated his entire life and blindly hating Iwa or anyone else for that matter, without knowing why, Naruto knew would be hypocritical, even as a child.

Team 312 convened in the alley behind the destroyed establishment and were standing in circle as they discussed their next course of action whilst the police force was busy clearing the rubble and taking statements from witnesses. "Gantetsu will probably come back with more of his thugs and ringleaders of the Kuroda-gumi. We have no idea when he'll dare to show face around here, so we'll have to collaborate even more with the police force."

"During our fight, he said something about a deal. They way he was talking, it was like we weren't supposed to be here. Isn't that strange? Why wouldn't he expect Konoha-nin to be here when it's so close to Konoha?"

"And you didn't mention this earlier because of what exactly?" Sarugaku snapped at him with ire. Naruto didn't even have to say it out loud, it was perfectly clear to the entire team their ambitious squad leader would naturally jump at the chance of revealing corruption at the top of ranks within Tanzaku Gai's police force. It would do wonders for his career, perhaps even earn him that promotion he had yearned for so long.

Naruto shrugged, it was a fair point. There wasn't much he could say to defend himself from not reporting that tidbit of information sooner. "Sorry 'bout that."

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it, Uzumaki. You're in enough trouble as it is. Don't think for a second I won't report the collateral damage you caused either," Sarugaku told him without so much a hint as sympathy for the situation he had been put in.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault! Gantetsu did most of the destroying, Shikamaru can testify to that!" Naruto gritted his teeth, what the hell was this guy's problem? Since day one he had been nothing but a condescending a-hole to Naruto, but he hadn't expected the guy to be actively out to hurt his career like that.

"Yes I can, but let's not forget what's important here." Shikamaru once again proved to be the mediator for the pair. "If someone's really on their payroll, we need to figure out who it is and quick. Something tells me, Gantetsu wasn't lying. The fact they were about to publically execute a man without so much a hint of fear for reprisals by the police can only mean they've got high ranking figures on their payroll. Most likely, if they have one of ours on their payroll, they'll have contacts in the police force."

Rei nodded, "I agree with Nara-san. We should be careful how we conduct this investigation, I think it would be in our best interest if he keep an eye on the police just as much as on thugs."

"That's impossible," Hayase shook his head. "We don't have the manpower for an operation that big."

Shikamaru and Rei looked at Naruto, prompting the chūnin to ask, "What, what's that look about?"

"Manpower won't be a problem, I can change my number from one to a thousand if I want to."

"That's absurd-"

"Not now, Saru," Hayase cut him off, "You were saying?" he then asked Naruto. "You're talking about clones, aren't you?"

Naruto nodded. "Give me a clear area and I'll give you as much manpower as you want."

"How? Regular Bunshin won't cut it. They're see through and they're mutes… what's so funny?"

Naruto made a hand seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Two clones appeared on either side of Naruto with identical cocky smirks as Hayase and Sarugaku both did a double take.

"What the fuck!" Hayase exclaimed.

"_Th- That jutsu is forbidden!_" Sarugaku hissed at Naruto as though he had just witnessed a heinous crime. "That kinjutsu… how did you get your hands on it? _This wasn't in your file!_" Sarugaku took a deep breath and then hissed at Naruto: "_Why wasn't this in your file?_"

"Like I said, a lot of things I can do aren't in those files," Naruto replied coolly, taking great pleasure in squashing his team's negative presumptions of him once and for all. "And before you decide to add that to the list of charges you'll bring against me, know that I have permission from the Hokage himself to use this jutsu."

"He claims to be able to create a thousand of these," Rei informed their squad leader, patting a Naruto-clone on the shoulder to feel his solidity. "According to Nara, his claim isn't false."

"It isn't," Naruto confirmed, not taking his eyes of Sarugaku, who was immensely disturbed by the information.

"Why can't we feel you've got so much chakra?" Hayase asked with an underlining tone of doubt. Then again, who could blame him? A thousand Kage Bunshin was unheard off and to be told a supposedly dead last, no-talent kid like Naruto was capable of such a feat was hard to believe. Downright unfathomable even.

Naruto shrugged, he didn't truly know the answer to that. "I've always known how to suppress my chakra. It just comes naturally to me, don't ask me why because I don't know either, it just does." On that notion, Naruto had to wonder if this was a side effect the seal on his stomach that kept the Kyūbi at bay. Jiraiya had mentioned it segregating his chakra from the Kyūbi's – or something like that; Naruto wasn't paying attention at the time. "Anyway, are we going to do this Rei-chan's way or what?"

Shikamaru stifled a bemused chuckle and nodded. "I think it's a good idea, though you'll need to make sure you clones don't take the same appearance, Naruto."

"That won't be a problem."

Sarugaku finally regained his composure and cleared his throat to demand their attention. "Do it. We'll resume this mission as a team. While your clones look for the targets, we'll go see the police representative that gave me these bogus files," Sarugaku held up files that indicated the falsified records of decreased crime, "We'll give him a shake down, see what he has for us. If he cooperates, we can have this mission cleared by tonight and be on our way back by tomorrow."

Hayase checked his watch. "It's three PM, we need to hurry if we want to wrap this up ASAP."

"Then let Shikamaru take charge," Naruto suggested, receiving curious looks from all of his teammates, including the perpetually idle Kagemane user. "Look, Shikamaru is smarter than all of us combined. You give him a location, a time and numbers and he'll give you fifty solid strategies on how to handle the situation." Naruto knew he was exaggerating, though he wasn't sure by how much – Shikamaru _was _a pretty damn good tactician. "I don't want to sound cowardly, but that one guy nearly knocked head off my shoulders. Who knows what kind of types he hangs out with?"

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto with a nod and then looked at Sarugaku. "He makes a point, Sarugaku-taichō. I don't want to usurp you… that would be too troublesome, but if we want this raid executed flawlessly, we should pool our resources."

"Do it." Though he conceded, Sarugaku didn't seem pleased in the slightest with having to admit to be the inferior tactician by letting Shikamaru take the lead on planning their next course of action.

-ooo-

(Tanzaku Gai Police Department – Top Floor)

Oshoku Keikan enjoyed a comfortable life.

At the ripe age of fifty-three, he was married into a wealthy family through his wife. He enjoyed many pleasures in life; he had money in the bank, a nice house and a beautiful wife amongst a sea of mistresses and even some luxury estates abroad. His sons were prodigious and at top of their class, his eldest had already had just passed his training and become a full fledged member of the police force and would one day take his place. His daughters were beautiful and desirable stock for breeding, thus the dowry would further ensure he could enjoy a comfortable life after retirement.

As the chief of Tanzaku Gai's police force, Oshoku was the most reputable member of the brass. With 5000 men under his command, not many of the city's populous dared to bring up any _alleged_ bribe taking or corruption charges, not even the whistleblowers of the Magistrates. Men with righteous moral compasses were becoming increasingly rare as more just… _disappeared,_ never to be seen or heard off again.

Ah yes, life was good for Oshoku Keikan.

Power… money… influence… fear of the masses… With these tools at his disposal, Oshoku Keikan was the most powerful man in Tanzaku Gai.

Not even the Kuroda-gumi, a yakuza recently taken over by a band of nuke-nin from Iwa who continued to keep the yakuza thugs in their employment dared to displease him. Perhaps 'yakuza' was no long the correct term to apply to them. Not now they were led by shinobi, and shinobi never stopped being shinobi, no matter how they claimed otherwise.

Regardless, the Kuroda-gumi had risen to prominence under the leadership of the rogue ninja, however before long Oshoku had them cornered. Up against a 5000 strong legion of policemen, not even the nuke-nin stood a chance. Fortunately, for the both of them Oshoku realised, they weren't stupid. No, it was actually quite refreshing to deal with intellectual minds for once. The Kuroda-gumi came to understand who the man in charge was and were now responsible for the additional 500,000 ryō in his personnel safe in his mansion every week. With them keeping his adversaries in check whilst keeping him happy with his weekly tribute, Oshoku was content with allowing these thugs to maintain their opium trafficking and racketeering.

As long as they knew who the boss was.

The light on his console burned red. "What is it?" Oshoku asked as he pressed the console button.

_"Oshoku-sama, I have Ashitazu-dono on the line. Will you take his call?"_

"No, tell him _I_ will call _him_."

_CRASH!_

No sooner had Oshoku taken his finger off the button, did five shinobi crash through the windows behind his desk and to his right and one through the roof. Oshoku trembled; a tantō was mere inches away from his throat, held steady by the blond teenager who came crashing from his roof and landed on his desk as his four accomplices took their positions, one closing the door; another throwing kunai with explosive tags wrapped around them in each corner of the office.

A tall man with sandy blond hair approached him, he appeared to be in his twenties. "Chief Oshoku, my name is Sarugaku Tsuzumi," Sarugaku looked to Naruto and nodded, prompting the young man to sheath his tantō and reach for ninja wire. "We know all about your _deal _with the Kuroda-gumi, recently taken over by a group of Iwa nuke-nin. Earlier today, you had one of your lieutenants supplying me with falsified records of decreased crime rates. While this happened, my team encountered a public execution of a innocent civilian by a member of the Kuroda-gumi we believe to go by the name of Gantetsu."

"… That son of a bitch, I knew that loose cannon was going to be trouble at some point."

"Good, you're not going to bother with claiming ignorance." Sarugaku sat down on the man's desk, shoving aside his files on the floor where they laid in a heap. "Uzumaki, I believe that's enough wire. He won't be going anywhere."

Naruto nodded and drew back, standing next to Rei who nodded to him. "We need to hurry up, there's a few of them coming up. They mentioned they had a meeting scheduled today, something about budget plans."

"How do you know this?" Oshoku demanded.

Naruto smiled eerily, tapping the side of his head. "You're right, it says here he's got a meeting scheduled," Sarugaku threw aside Oshoku's leather bound agenda and reached into his pouch and withdrew a crimson and gold rimmed baton. "Chief, you're going to call your secretary and have her cancel all of your meetings for today."

"And why would I do that, pray tell, Sarugaku-san." It didn't come as a surprise the chief kept his cool, he was an experienced officer after all. "Why would I listen to you, hmm?"

"I was hoping you would say that, Chief." Sarugaku gripped and twisted the top of his baton and took off the detachable cap, revealing the metal contraption under it. It appeared to be an lighter of sorts, or a blowtorch perhaps. "This is something demolition experts such as myself refer to as a 'heatstick', would you like to know why?"

Oshoku scoffed with faux bravado and leaned back into his chair as Sarugaku got off his desk, exerting as much movement as the ninja wire allowed him. "Not particularly."

Sarugaku slowly sauntered over and smiled mirthlessly. "Using this fine piece of technology, we use a little chakra manipulation to generate a spark. This spark turns into fire and through the mechanics of the heatstick we, for all intents purposes, are wielding a blowtorch with a heat output of 1300 degrees Celsius. As you can imagine, the heatstick can be powerful tool of interrogation… Just imagine the skin on your bones melting away, and that's only a fraction of what this thing is capable of."

Oshoku swallowed thickly, breaking out in sweat. "Perhaps we can discuss this in a more civilised manner, Sarugaku-san. I am sure we can find a… middle ground."

"No," Sarugaku said coldly. "You are going to tell us everything you know about the Kuroda-gumi. Names, locations – everything. Do you understand?" Oshoku nodded repeatedly muttering incoherently under his breath. "Good, now call your secretary and tell her to clear you schedule. Do it _now_."

With a trembling finger, Oshoku pressed the button on his console. "Tsubaki, clear my schedule for the rest of the day and go home."

_"Oshoku-sama, are you sure? You're scheduled for a meeting with union representatives in ten minutes and Magistrate representatives in another hour-"_

A snap-hiss.

Bluish flames erupted from the heatstick in Sarugaku's hand as he nodded slowly.

"Just do as I say, Tsubaki! I employed you to manage my schedule, not to question my orders, do you understand? Now do it, or you're fired!"

_"Of- Of course, Oshoku-sama!"_

Naruto looked around the room and noticed a frame picture Oshoku's desk and picked up. 'So even this guy can be a loving father,' Naruto noted as he took the happy family on the picture. It brought him on another train of thought, "Is anyone home expecting you?"

"N- No! And put that down!"

Naruto flung the frame out of the window. "Oops!" It got him a disapproving look from Rei and Sarugaku but he didn't particularly care. "Hurry it up, the police union representatives are arguing with the secretary and it looks like they're about to barge up here."

Sarugaku nodded and put the heatstick away. "Everything you know, right now!"

…

_CRACK!_

Naruto shook his fist with a satisfied smile as Oshoku fell down along with his chair, a fat bruise forming on his temple as his toupee slid of his fat head. "We can't let him off without a scratch, it'll make him think even we're afraid of touching him," Naruto elaborated as his team looked at him with questionable expressions.

"The warehouse they use as a compound isn't too far from here," Sarugaku took a look at the framed map on the wall, pointing at the industrial section of Tanzaku Gai. "Let's get there quick. The yakuza thugs aren't going to be a problem. It's the five ringleaders including Gantetsu that will be tough to beat. If Gantetsu is the weakest of them like Oshoku claims, then this is going to be tough. We need to make sure we take advantage of the element of surprise."

"I can scare of the Yakuza if I create a thousand Kage Bunshin-"

"I'll believe that when I see it Uzumaki," Sarugaku derisively cut him off. "Until then, don't expect me to take your word for anything you claim you can do."

Half tempted to take him up on that offer, Naruto threw his hands in the air. "Fine, don't believe me. Do whatever the fuck it is you want to do, I'll just hang back and _prove my worth_ to you once and for all when the opportunity arises."

"Let's stay focused here," Shikamaru called for attention as he crouched with his hands folded in his thinking position. "If it's a warehouse, it's a confined space. If we come in hard and fast, we can take them out quick and easy."

"What have you got in mind?" Hayase asked.

In response Shikamaru walked over to the door and pulled open, standing face to face with several of the police force's brass.

"Your chief is corrupt," Shikamaru informed bluntly, gesturing to unconscious Oshoku bound up in his chair. "We were sent here to conduct an investigation. We discovered the paperwork your chief had been submitting to our government were packed with lies."

The police union representatives looked to each other and began to talk at the same time but Shikamaru held up his hand. "We're not interested in you, whether we include you as corrupt officials in our report is entirely up to us. Of course, we can be persuaded to leave you out of it…"

"What do you want?" asked the union leader.

Shikamaru smirked, "That's what I want to hear."

-ooo-

(Tanzaku Gai – Industrial District)

In a poorly lit warehouse, the sound of repeated blows to flesh rang, followed by bemused sniggering and laughs and painful grunts.

Gantetsu was knelt before another figure with blood streaming down his face, he appeared have endured a fierce beating and was breathing heavily as the warehouse full of thugs and four other shinobi looked down upon him with contempt.

"How many times have I told you to watch it?" hissed the man towering above him, promptly striking him again with a silver cane in his hand. "Your job is to keep the people under control, to let them know who's in charge. Not to carry out public executions for everyone including _Konoha-nin_ to see!"

"Boss… please…" Gantetsu uttered through the pain. "I'm sorry… let me take care of this! If I make them disappear before they can report anything-"

_Ssssshhhh!_

"What is that?" the man hissed from the shadows, his silver cane hovered mere inches from Gantetsu's head.

Fire bared down as a large circle was carved into the roof by a sword of fire.

"YOU FOOL!" shouted Gantetsu's boss, striking him once more. "You were followed?"

_CRASH!_

The ceiling gave away with a loud explosion and a teenage boy with blond gravity-defying hair and blue eyes flipped in the air with a red baton in his hand, emitting a stream of blue flames. "Holy shit, this thing is awesome!" Naruto deactivated and twirled the heatstick between his fingers. "I'm keeping this- oh, am I interrupting something?"

Naruto was a sucker for dramatic entrances.

"Who is this… the Konoha-nin that bested you, Gantetsu?" The mysterious figure stepped forward in the moonlight, revealing himself to be a tall, silver cane-wielding man with a gas mask; spiky grey hair and brown eyes and dressed in black shinobi garb under expensive looking robes. "He's a mere boy!"

"Kigiri-sama… this kid didn't beat me-!"

_Whack!_

Gantetsu made a whimpering noise, holding his head in pain.

"Silence, Gantetsu." Kigiri strode forward to Naruto, standing fully in the ray of moonlight. "I assume your allies are waiting outside for the signal to attack?"

Naruto's eyes darted from left to right, counting several dozen yakuza thugs.

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

"No, but that's really a cool gas mask," Naruto responded cheekily. "Seriously, where do you get those, anyway? I mean, now that I think of it, that's a really handy piece of equipment. You never known when you could use one of those-"

"Silence! My name is Kigiri, Iwa's former Ginyasha, and you boy, are out of your league." Kigiri strode closer to Naruto and levelled his silver cane.

"A silver cane? Come on, you've got to admit, that's pretty lame…" Naruto jeered with a sour expression. As expected, the look on Kigiri betrayed his next move and Naruto braced himself for an head on attack he anticipated.

Gantetsu's eyes widened as Kigiri closed in on Naruto with his cane. As Naruto caught it in one hand and smirked it dawned Gantetsu what was about to happen next. "BOSS, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Gantetsu surged forward as 'Naruto' began to glow.

_BOOM!_

…

"GO!"

Naruto jumped down the hole in the roof and landed in the warehouse, back-to-back with the rest of his team. 'I really need to thank Jiji properly for giving me that variation of the Kage Bunshin!' Naruto held up his hands in an unconventional hand seal.

The warehouse was mostly intact, scattered with the bodies of some yakuza thugs and a huge crater in the concrete floor. The majority of the thugs were alive though, getting to their feet covered in dust and swearing profoundly as they reached for their swords.

"_What is the meaning of this?_" Kigiri hissed and pushed Gantetsu away, bleeding somewhat but nowhere near as damaged as the large figure of Gantentsu whose rock armour had been almost completely shaven off and was bleeding profusely.

"Boss… are you alright?" Gantetsu crouched to his knees, wheezing as he struggled to breathe.

Naruto frowned. 'That guy just risked his life to save his boss? Who would've guessed nuke-nin are capable of loyalty like that.'

"Kuroda-gumi, you have declared yourself as enemies of Hi no Kuni through illegal opium trafficking and other criminal charges," Sarugaku announced, holding a kunai in a reverse grip in both hands. "I will extend to you one opportunity to surrender, if you do not come quietly you will be subdued and your punishment will be much more severe."

Kigiri growled menacingly and made a summoning gesture. "Gantetsu get to your feet! Rosaria, Kogero, Kihō! Aide me against these Konoha dogs."

Three figures that had previously stood in the shadows appeared next to their boss. One of them was an attractive woman in a pink and black robe; the other a tall muscular man in shinobi trousers and a karate gi with ripped off sleeves and lastly a dwarf-sized man with grey skin, a dark cloak and goggles and an oversized wrist launcher.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as the yakuza began to surround them. "Shikamaru…"

_CRASH!_

"Just on time," Shikamaru said as the doors of the warehouse blew wide open and the police force rushed inside and ran towards the thugs.

As the police rushed at the thugs, Kigiri snarled. "That fat fool Oshoku betrayed us!" Kigiri pulled one of his henchmen by the scruff of the neck and pushed him towards the policemen and Konoha-nin. "Kill them! KILL THEM ALL!" Kigiri promptly charged forward with his four lieutenants, Gantetsu considerably slower but hot on his heels as they clashed.

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Kigiri)

The police and yakuza shouted battle cries as they engaged one another; Naruto left the rest to handle the small fry and met Kigiri head on with his tantō in one hand and a kunai another in a cross-shaped guard against his opponents silver cane. "Just tell me something," Naruto gritted through his teeth, pushing Kigiri back with limited effort. "What's with the cane?"

"I suppose it can't hurt to show you something extraordinary beautiful before you die!" Kigiri distanced himself with fleeting swipe to keep Naruto on his toes and held up his cane in a horizontal guard as he trailed his palm over its smooth cylindrical shape. "Gold is supposedly the most valuable mineral on earth, but I have always preferred silver. It is more durable and practical, yet society overlooks these qualities due their vanity and obsession with that what they perceive as 'beautiful' and 'valuable'… Sometimes the best of qualities of men are also overlooked. It was why I deserted Iwa, to come here and be my own boss." Kigiri went through several sweeping motions with the cane. "Back in Iwa they called me Ginyasha… Out here they call me Kigiri no Gintsue, a perhaps not so fitting epitaph as I am capable of far more than just canes, boy!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as Kigiri levelled the cane in his direction and a split second later the cane shot out and morphed in a extremely lengthy spear. Naruto jumped high over it and Kigiri was upon him instantly, the spear now a long and thin sword seemingly capable of slicing the wind itself. Naruto brought up a guard with the tantō in his left hand and chucked the kunai at Kigiri, but even at this close distance the Silver Demon was able to narrowly avoid it with a jerk of his head. Naruto was rewarded with a powerful smash in the side of the head from Kigiri's guard.

Naruto back flipped midair and skidded slightly over the ground as the fighting continue to rage on. 'Fuck, no time to think!' Naruto's hands went through the motions purely on instinct after spending thousands of clone hours on this particular jutsu. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" With flawless expertise, Naruto's chest swell up as his lungs filled up with air and a stream of fire erupted from his mouth with just the right amount of chakra used to spark his flames.

That seemed to do the trick… for a second.

Kigiri was fast, a lot faster than Naruto had anticipated him to be. The silver cane wielding yakuza boss darted to the left and speedily appeared next to Naruto with his silver sword swung in a decapitating strike. Naruto sunk through the ground much to Kigiri's surprise, and as the swordsman's eyes widened, Naruto emerged from the ground behind him and aimed a powerful strike for the kidneys.

Kigiri gasped as he fell to one knee, but before Naruto could follow up with another he was struck in the face by Kigiri's weapon, now morphed back into a cane. 'That silver manipulation ability of his doesn't sound dangerous in theory but it sure as hell is in practice.' Naruto nursed a gash on his cheek whilst Kigiri got to his feet. 'Not only that, he's incredibly fast. He's no Lee, but with an ability like that he doesn't need to be either.'

Naruto sure as hell hoped his teammates were faring better than he was as he rolled over his shoulders to avoid a lunge.

-ooo-

(Sarugaku VS Gantetsu)

"DIE!" Gantetsu swung a massive fist towards the wall. It instantly gave away, giving him space to run outside the warehouse with his opponent hot on his heels.

"You're not going anywhere, you oversized brute!" Sarugaku was upon the giant, wielding several kunai with ninja wire attached to them. The seasoned chūnin hurled the projectiles at Gantetsu as he tried to run for it and easily halted his movements with a web of ninja wire to which he added another salvo shuriken and some more ninja wire to it. As more projectiles lodged into the earth, the wire pulled tighter on the Iwa nuke-nin; completely halting his movements and allowing Sarugaku to take his time in catching up with his prey.

Gantetsu's breathing was laboured, still suffering from previous injuries at the hands of Naruto and his Kigiri; yet he was still smiling. "Looks like you got me."

Sarugaku held a single kunai in one hand, to which all other wires where connected. "You won't be smiling for long, Iwa scum!" Sarugaku reached into the large pouch on his hip, specifically for his demolition equipment and withdrew a thick roll of explosive tags.

Gantetsu's eyes widened in fear and Sarugaku smiled condescendingly. "Terrifying, isn't it?" Sarugaku mocked as he held the explosive tag roll to the kunai through which all wires connected. "Ninpō: Bakuhatsu Wana!" The roll in Sarugaku's hand began to rotate wildly as tag after tag seamlessly attached to the kunai and shot up the web of ninja wire. "This is where it ends!"

Sarugaku raised the kunai above his head and flung to the ground, sinking it up to its hole; and jumped back a few times to distances himself out of the blast radius. "Katsu!"

_BOOM!_

The explosion caused a series of small tremors through the ground and chunks of earth flew through the air as black smoke bellowed from the newly formed crater.

Sarugaku exhaled slowly as he approached his fallen victim, but it was until the smoke cleared that his eyes widened. In the middle of the crater, protecting by a huge chunk of earth was Gantetsu, seemingly unharmed by the explosion. "H- How?" Sarugaku shouted with disbelief. "The explosion should've killed you!"

"Heh!" Gantetsu smirked as he broke free from the earth shield, covered in large chunks of jagged pieces of earth. "I had you pegged as an arrogant one from the get-go, what with your 'heroic' speech 'n all. So, I made sure you went after me so I could lure you outside and while you took your perverted pleasure in slowly setting up my death I channelled chakra through the ground to pull him minerals I could use to heal myself!" Gantetsu burst out in laughter. "I played you like a fool!"

Sarugaku surged forward with his tantō drawn, rage in his eyes and chucking an explosive tag kunai at him, but Gantetsu did not falter, instead the giant swung a giant earth-encrusted fist at Sarugaku, intercepting the kunai with a chunk of earth and used the remainders of smoke to blindside Sarugaku and slam the Konoha-nin in the abdomen, sending him flying into a painful sprawl on the ground.

"And now you're going to die like a fool!"

-ooo-

(Shikamaru VS Kihō)

In another part of the warehouse, Shikamaru found himself running through a confined space muttering 'troublesome' like a mantra as his levitating dwarf opponent continued to launch grenade after grenade from his wrist launcher.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Series of explosions followed the shadow-user as he ran down the hall.

Shikamaru jumped forward and spun fast enough in the air to throw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it to distract his opponent as he continued to down the hallways of the warehouse. Shikamaru slid on his feet around the corner, and reached for more kunai and explosive tags whilst muttering every swear word in the book.

"Gihahahaha! You can't run now, little mouse! Trickku Shotto!" Kihō took aim with his wrist launcher and shot three canisters at once; two bounding of the wall against another and strategically exploding in front of Shikamaru.

The explosion sent the shadow-user flying back towards Kihō, who took aim once again and shot a large net towards Shikamaru to bag him like a cat. "Gihahahaha!" the grey-skinned dwarf cackled, only to suddenly find himself incapable of moving. "Wh- What the…!"

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success." Shikamaru got to his feet with his hands in the rat hand seal.

Kihō was distraught with fear. "How did you-!"

"When you shot that net, I decided to wing it and use the shadow cast by the net as a medium to catch you. Looks like I'm in luck today, I should hit the casinos later." Shikamaru smiled lazily as he took a few step backwards looked to the ceiling, forcing Kihō to the same.

Place right above Kihō's head were two kunai with explosive tags attached to them.

"Wh- When did you throw those up there!"

Shikamaru yawned lazily. "Though it was only logical for you to force me into a confined space so I couldn't escape the blast radius of your grenades, you didn't account for any explosives _I_ might have been carrying. Just before you tried that trick shot I threw two kunai in front of me and two behind. The ones I threw behind me were extremely mild variations and though they wouldn't be lethal for me, they could destroy your grenades and make them inert before they detonated."

"A- And what about these two? Are those two mi- mild variations?" Kihō's voice shook in fear.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I ran out of regular explosive tags so I had to go for these ones, they're considerably more powerful than the usual ones. If I'm not mistaken, once I detonate them, the ceiling will give away and crush you."

"W- Wait! I have money! Lots of it!" Kihō screamed at Shikamaru. "If you let me go, I'll give you as much money as you want - I'll give you every last penny I have!"

Shikamaru didn't deign to reply and merely smiled in his lazy manner.

_BANG!_

The ceiling above Kihō gave away with a loud explosion and just before the grey-skinned dwarf was buried by the debris, Shikamaru cancelled the jutsu.

"That's my part done… Yeah, I'll just sit the rest out," Shikamaru sighed as he slumped against the wall with a lazy sigh.

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Kigiri)

In the upper levels of the Kuroda-gumi warehouse, Naruto and Kigiri were still going at it in a heated combat that took them all over the place.

_WOOSH!_

Naruto ducked under a swipe to his head and retaliated by burying his fist in Kigiri's stomach; the lanky shinobi-turned-yakuza boss lurched over as saliva dripped down his chin. Naruto followed up with a crushing left hook to the temple to send his opponent crashing headfirst into the wall.

He had gotten used to Kigiri's speed and with time managed to exceed it. His opponent's movements became easier to predict and Naruto fully capitalised on Kigiri's weak taijutsu by delivering as many powerful strikes as he could in quick succession. 'This guy is nothing like Neji or Gaara,' Naruto thought, sidestepped a fencing-like lunge and retaliating with another punch to the kidney.

"Damn you!" Kigiri began swining his cane erratically, blood and saliva dripping down his chin. This couldn't be happening! How was he losing this badly, to a child no less! "I'll kill you!" Kigiri screamed as he swung his cane towards Naruto many times, changing its form wouldn't work so why bother with wasting chakra?

Naruto held up his guard, hopping from foot to foot like a boxer to keep his reflexes sharp. "Just give up, you can't beat me. You're going to die if you keep this up," Naruto warned. Kigiri's response was to swing down his cane, but Naruto already saw it coming a dashed forward, planting his left fist deep into Kigiri's stomach and snatching the cane out of his hand with right, following up with a roundhouse kick to knock the older shinobi down.

Naruto glared at Kigiri, "I can tell from your movements you've gotten rusty since you took over the Kuroda-gumi. It's still there in your mind," Naruto tapped the side of his head for emphasise, "But your body can't keep up with it. You're an easy target for someone like me who hasn't stopped fighting since he started!"

"ENOUGH! I will not stand here and take such disrespectful from a whelp like you, boy!" Kigiri bellowed, going through several hand seals.

A string of hand seals Naruto recognised, prompting him to swear out loud. "Fuck!"

"This ends NOW!" Kigiri cackled. "I may have lost some of my skill, but my partner in combat has not! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Kigiri slammed down his arm on the concrete. It was almost dramatic how he did it, Naruto noted.

_POOF!_

The building shook and the ceiling collapsed as a giant pillar of smoke burst into existence followed by the earsplitting screech of a creature Naruto could only assume was a giant squirrel. Its fur was platinum blond, its eyes red and it claws were twice as long as Naruto was tall and thrice as thick. **"I have come to serve, Kigiri-sama!"** the creature resembling a squirrel bellowed. The creature was so big, that simply by summoning it, Kigiri had dispelled several of Naruto's clones and sent many yakuza and policemen flying through the air.

As fascinating as the creature was, Naruto didn't have much time to admire as Kigiri levelled his cane towards Naruto and commanded the best to attack. The summon obeyed and struck out with large drill like claws, tearing away at the warehouse building and forcing Naruto to run for it and jump onto rooftops nearby as he escaped.

"Oh, it is so ON!" Naruto shouted as he jumped high into the air, jumping from chunk of debris to chunk of debris to reach a high enough altitude from which he could determine a safe spot to summon Gamabunta. He had been dying for an excuse to summon the Toad Chief ever since Sarugaku called him a liar, and this was the perfect opportunity to not only get kick his TL in the teeth but to also beat Kigiri. Naruto's hands became blurs as he we went through the string of hand seals required and slammed his fast palms below him as though he were trying to touch the ground dozens of feet below. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

_POOF!_

As the smoke cleared up, Naruto was over a hundred feet higher in the air positioned on the head of none other than Gamabunta the Toad Chief.

**"GAKI!"**

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><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

Apologies for the long wait.

College just started, what ya gun' do about it, right? I had this chapter and the following two written up ages ago but unfortunately my beta's gone AWOL and after weeks of waiting I decided to just post it and edit out whatever mistakes I find or are pointed out to me in reviews – seriously though, don't simply review to point out my mistakes, it makes me cry. Just kidding – big boys don't cry. We just get all mad and throw tantrums.

Anywho… I know some of you – well a lot of you actually – have been wondering what the hell is up with Kumogakure Ninja. Well, what can I tell you? I'm not feeling it at the minute. Whenever I try to work on a chapter, I just completely lose focus. That doesn't happen nearly as much with my side project(s), hence why I'm updating Potential Realised instead of KN.

Regarding this chapter's content: yeah, I learned from my mistakes in Kumo Nin so I'm not going to draw out the starting arc of the story. Next chapter rounds up this little mini arc and we'll be getting onto the next arc soon and as many of you've guessed it, it's gonna be the Search for Tsunade Arc. After that arc, we'll be looking at a _lot_ of original content and both plot and character development so look forward to that.

And before I forget, check out my profile to find out what Sarugaku and Hayase more or less look like. Since I took those two directly from the show, you might want to have a good ol' lookie-loo. Here's hoping I find a good enough image that resembles Rei. Those characters will be around for a while and play an interesting symbolism theme I've got going on – enough rambling!

See you next week. The next chapter will be up by the weekend!

...

**Jutsu Used:**

(Jutsu: Kengan no Jutsu - Fist Rock Technique) - C rank, offensive, short range. A common jutsu taught in the academies of Iwagakure, by encasing their arm in rock, the user can deal a powerful hardened punch against an opponent while being protected from direct contact with their target.

(Jutsu: Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu – Dragon Fire Technique) – C rank, offensive, mid range. By igniting channelling chakra through the lungs whilst inhaling, the user then proceeds to ignite a spark with chakra spit a stream of fire at a sizeable range.

(Jutsu: Ninpō: Bakuhatsu Wana! - Ninja Art! Explosion Trap) - B rank, offensive, ? range. A common jutsu used by demolition specialists in the shinobi world by combining ninja wire, explosive tags and projectiles such as a kunai and shuriken, the user creates a web of explosive impossible to escape from and surely to kill.


	4. Chapter 4: Rookie No More

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 07-10-11_

_Updated: 30-12-13_

_**It's an early update and you better be OK with it! Show me some love and make sure to review this chapter and the chapter before this one if you haven't already.**_

_**Spelling check by goku90504**_

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><p>CH4: Rookie No More<p>

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><p>-ooo-<p>

(Minutes Earlier: Sarugaku VS Gantetsu)

Sarugaku was down on one knee before Gantetsu, panting and blood streaming down his chin and temple. No matter what he did, no matter how many explosions he set off, his opponent Gantetsu would always come back with a vengeance; healed by the minerals he pulled out of the earth.

A loud bang went off in the distance.

"Sounds like Kihō took care of that brat with the pineapple hairstyle," Gantestu sneered. "Right about now Rosaria and Kogero are killing your swordsman and your pretty little kunoichi friend. As for Kigiri-sama… well, that kid was lost cause from the get-go. There's no way Kigiri-sama will spare him."

"How can you be so loyal to him after he nearly killed you?" Sarugaku spat some blood and struggled to get to this feet, his body completely battered and bruised from the onslaught of Gantetsu's punishing blows. "He treats you like dirt."

"He saved my life a long time ago, it's his to do with what he wishes," Gantetsu replied firmly with nothing but the upmost of conviction in his words. He began to walk towards Sarugaku, the earth crusted onto his skin growling lengthier, thicker and jagged as it gained volume. "It's time to the end this, Konoha dog. Now you'll know why Konoha would have lost the war if not for the Kiroii Senkō!"

_POOF!_

**"I have come to serve, Kigiri-sama!"**

Sarugaku's eyes widened as a giant summon appeared, ripping through the walls of the warehouse it was summoned it. "What in the world is that?" Sarugaku demanded with a shout. "That thing is enormous! Who could've summoned it-"

Gantetsu barked an ominous laugh, stopping his stride momentarily. "That is Kigiri-sama's personal summon. He is the only one in the world to hold the summoning contract to its kin. Though I have no idea why Kigiri-sama felt the need to summon it for weaklings such as you," Gantetsu began to approach Sarugaku again; by now his Rock Fist had grown larger than Sarugaku himself. "Don't worry though, it'll be over for you soon!"

Sarugaku closed his eyes as Gantetsu stopped before him and raised his giant club-like arm to smash him like a insect. 'I guess this is the end…'

_POOF!_

**"GAKI!"**

"What in the hell is that?" Gantetsu eyes widened just as Sarugaku opened his.

A giant toad had appeared to fight Kigiri's summon and he didn't seem to be happy about. "Th- That's Gamabunta-sama!" Sarugaku shouted; Gantetsu looked at him with bulging eyes, having heard of the legendary Toad Chief.

It was in this moment Sarugaku saw an opening and as Gantetsu's eye trailed upwards to the giant toad, he reached into pouch and withdrew his final role of explosive tags. Having pulled so many minerals to strengthen rock armour, Gantetsu was weighed down too much by his rockfist to react on time to Sarugaku throwing the explosive tag roll at him and making a hand seal as the explosives tags began to attach to him rapidly.

"There's no time for you to prepare your armour now, Iwa scum!" Sarugaku shouted and though he was only a few feet away, he detonated the explosive tags.

_BOOM!_

The explosion sent Sarugaku flying back and skidding over the floor with several burns and singes; but all these wounds went unregistered as he lied mere feet away from the bloodied mess that was once Gantetsu. His rock armour had not been prepared for an explosion of that magnitude and thus he paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. With one strained motion to look upwards, Sarugaku saw Gamabunta fight it out with Kigiri's summon. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," Sarugaku uttered in a strained voice before slipping into unconsciousness.

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Kigiri)

**"GAKI!"**

"Yo, Gamabunta-_chaaan_! How have you been- Ouch!" Naruto found himself face-planting on Gamabunta's enormous head courtesy from the Toad Chief's giant tongue bearing down upon him as the toad croaked in anger, causing Naruto further fall his gigantic frame.

**"GAKI! Don't you 'yo' me, I was having dinner with my family when you decided to summon me without notice! You're either very stupid or very ballsy, either way I'm gonna have t' teach you a lesson!"**

"I didn't mean to!" Naruto screamed in genuine fear, hanging from the toad's jacket. "Look, I'M SORRY, OK? I didn't mean to interrupt your family diner! It's just that this guy said some _pretty_ inappropriate things about toads!"

**"WHAT?" **Gamabunta demanded as he reached for his sword. **"He did, did he? What'd he say, gaki?"**

"He said, 'toads suck since they're not match for snakes' and he also said-"

"_LIAR!_" Kigiri screamed at the top of his lungs.

Gamabunta had now unsheathed his blade and held it a reverse guard. **"First you disrespect the most honourable kin of the toads and now you call my summoner a liar? I've always wanted a snakeskin wallet but it looks like I'll have to do with squirrel."**

**"I'M NOT A SQUIRREL, YOU FAT SON OF A BITCH!" **Kigiri's summon screamed at Gamabunta, prompting a thick vein to appear on the Toad Chief's enormous head.

**"FAT? I'll show you fat, you rodent! Come here!"** Gamabunta began his onslaught by jumping high into the air; Naruto had almost fallen off if he hadn't attached himself by the means of chakra on instinct. **"Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu!"**

The water orb struck head on and Kigiri's summon screamed in furry. **"My coat, look what you did to my coat, you fat bastard! Now everyone's going to think I smell!"**

**"You stank long before I got here, squirrel!" **Gamabunta shot back, and to add insult to injury he added:** "Your whole kind does!"**

**"I'M A-!"**

**"I DON'T CARE!"**

As the two giants battled it out, Naruto sweat-dropped as he wasn't so sure if the Toad Chief was fighting on his behalf anymore. Why couldn't it have been this easy when he was fighting Gaara and the Shukaku? Gamabunta only helped him back then because he saved his son, but now the toad was fighting for to prove the kinship of toads to be superior to those of the lemurs… or squirrels. Naruto had no idea what Kigiri had summoned, it kind of looked like both.

Still, the lemur (or whatever it) was proved to be a worthy adversary as a minute later Gamabunta had to withdraw with a deep gash under his right eye. **"He's a swift bastard**…" Gamabunta blew a huge puff of smoke through his pipe. **"Kid, do you know any fire jutsu?"**

"A few!" was Naruto's reply as Gamabunta charged at Kigiri's summon again. "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto dispensed one kunai from his spring set mechanism and threw it towards Kigiri; midair one kunai changed into a constant stream of thousand projectiles which Kigiri for the most part deflected, though a few longed into his thighs and arms but the pain went unregistered. His summon on the other hand was not so lucky as hundreds of small projectiles dug into its skin, causing it to screech in pain.

**"I'm gonna spit some oil, you just ignite it and watch 'em burn!"** Gamabunta jumped high into the air while Kigiri's summon howled and formed his amphibian hands into a hand seal; his cheeks swell up. **"Ready, gaki?"**

"READY!" Naruto went through a string of hand seals of his own.

**"EAT IT, YOU MISERABLE SQUIRREL BASTARD!"** Gamabunta's spat out a massive volume of oil that came crashing down upon the lemur like a fountain. **"NOW, NARUTO!"**

"Katon! Ryūka no Jutsu!"

**"I'M A- AAARRGH!"**

The only word that come to Naruto's mind that could begin to describe what happened next was 'inferno.' As fire struck oil, it ignited and a giant stream of fire came bearing down up Kigiri and his summon as though there was a tear in dimensions and Hell was unleashed.

Kigiri's summon had no chance of defending itself against the inferno and caught aflame. The summon screamed and screeched in vain as it toppled over and lied still moments later, burned to death by the white hot flames.

**"Shit!"** Gamabunta swore loudly.

Naruto didn't have to ask, he could see it himself all too clear.

They had overdone it with the fire and now it had swept the entire warehouse in a sea of flames spreading at an alarming rate. "Gamabunta, can you set out the fire?" Naruto had to shout to make his request sound clear.

**"Not by myself, I can't, Gaki. I'm not a one toad fire brigade!"**

"Right!" Naruto went through another string of hand seals knowing this would put a drain on his chakra but he didn't exactly have a choice, thus he jumped off Gamabunta's head and slammed his palm down midair. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

_POOF!_

With another giant pillar of smoke, an enormous bluish-green toad with a waistband and two swords sheathed on its back in a cross-shaped guard appeared next to Gamabunta. The toad appeared to be considerably younger and less battle worn than Gamabunta, but seemed powerful nonetheless.

**"Gamahiro! It's good you're here, help me put out of the fire!" **

Gamabunta took the skies followed by Gamahiro, ridden by Naruto. **"Right, Boss!"**

Midair, the two giant summon toads swell up momentarily before they simultaneously spat gulf of water. **"Teppōdama no Jutsu!" **The incredibly volume of water came raining down upon the blazing fires; the two toads continued to spit water orb after water orb until there was nothing but shallow fires and a large fog of steam left.

Naruto sighed in relief as he could see the fire brigade in the distance pulling up with their portable water cannons to put out the remaining fires. "Looks like they've got it from here," Naruto looked to Gamahiro and gave the toad thumbs up. "Thanks, Gamahiro! You're a lifesaver!"

**"What, you forgot about me already, have you?" **Gamabunta grumbled.

**"Don't mention it, Uzumaki-san. Glad to help," **the toad gave what Naruto could only assume was a bow of the head.

Gamabunta bristled with an irritable croak. **"Don't celebrate too soon, for all we know that squirrel bastard and his master will be on their feet again."**

Gamahiro promptly reached for the duel katana he had on his back and unsheathed them, much to Naruto's admiration. "That is so cool!" Naruto beamed at the toad.

**"Yeah, and what about **_**my**_** blade?"** Gamabunta said with a scowl. **"You never compliment me on that, and let's not forget I dismembered a bijū for you either, brat! You got any idea how dangerous that was, gaki?"**

Despite his booming voice, Gamabunta's complaints went unheard as Naruto fawned over Gamahiro as though he were a child with a shiny new toy. "So what else can you do, Gamahiro?" Naruto asked the giant bluish-green toad.

**"Errrribbit! I don't think this is the time, Uzumaki-san," **Gamahiro responded politely.

"Right, right," Naruto nodded sagely with his arms crossed. "Of course you're right. We should check up on the others and those two bastards down there."

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

Rei and Hayase were having a hard time fighting against their two opponents as they battled it out on a rooftop nearby with the Iwa taijutsu specialist Kogero and the eccentric vine whip using kunoichi Rosaria. "I can't fucking believe it," Hayase darted to the left and retaliated with a slice of his dual swords to cut a vine meant to subdue him to ribbons. "He wasn't lying, he really can summon toads – and Gamabunta no less!"

"I knew he could," Rei responded jumping over Kogero and back flipping a few times to distance herself from Kogero. "Magen: Sanjūshi!" Rei smirked with satisfaction; they were wise to switch opponents. Initially Hayase and Rei had been fighting each other's opponents, but it soon came evident Rosaria's vines were useless against Hayase and Kogero's brute strength was nullified by Rei's genjutsu and medical experience.

"Yeah, right!" Hayase scoffed and took a step back to begin moving his dual blade rhythmically to cast an optic illusion. "Konoha-Ryū: Sazanami Konoha!"

The attack sliced Rosario's vines to ribbons, causing her to snarl and rush over to Kogero just as Rei moved in with chakra scalpels to cut his tendons. "Kai!" Rosaria screamed. "Damn it, Kogero, how can you fall for such weak genjutsu? I'll show you how it's done!" Rosaria went through a string of hand seals and rose petals began to emerge from her sleeves at an alarming rate. "Hissatsu Sakura Arashi!"

Rei's eyes narrowed and she instantly cancelled out the genjutsu, "Kai!" Hayase on the other hand was already caught and was cutting away madly the rose petals, thinking they were the real deal. "Hayase, they're not real!" Rei swore, something she rarely did, and rushed over to cancel out the genjutsu on Hayase as actual gashes began to appear on his body.

Kogero stamped his feet on the rooftop tiles and struck both his hands into the concrete, fingers sinking through the concrete like knives through butter; the silent brute began to grunt and his face turned red as veins popped up down his face and arms. "UARGH!"

"Shit!" Rei began to pull Hayase away with her, but he was already deep in the genjutsu and was swiping away at imaginary razor-sharp rose petals despite being on the ground. "Damn it…" Rei felt terror and desperation seep into her as Kogero heaved the enormous block of concrete above his head and Rosaria cackled.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success!"

Relief splashed over Rei like a tsunami. "Shikamaru!"

Lying next to Shikamaru was a nearly unconscious and badly wounded Sarugaku; their TL held gave thumbs up and slumped back into unconsciousness. Shikamaru's arms were held above his head just like Kogero; the Kagemane-user turned to Rosaria whose triumphant smirk had now all but disappeared. Shikamaru chuckled and cancelled his Shadow Possession jutsu, causing the block of concrete to instantly fall on Kogero's head and bury him into the rooftop concrete and crash down to the lower levels.

"That's two I took out, you can handle her," Shikamaru fell on his backside and sighed tiredly, picking his ear with his pinkie.

"KOGERO!" Rosaria screamed.

Rei capitalised on the enemy kunoichi's distraction and was upon Rosaria in an instant, chakra scalpels activated. She made quick work of disabling the vine whip kunoichi by slicing her tendons, effectively incapacitating her and chopped her in the back of her neck, knocking out her out.

"The other two?" Hayase asked tiredly as he sat down next to Shikamaru.

"Dead," Shikamaru replied easily. "I had to get out of there quick though. Fire spread out of nowhere and then it started raining," Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the glances Rei and Hayase exchanged. "I'm guessing Naruto had something to do with it."

"I can't believe he was telling the truth all along," Hayase helped himself to some energy replenishing pills and got to his feet. "Let's wrap this up shall we? There might be some thugs around here thinking they can get away."

"You guys go ahead and do that, I'm gonna sit here with the taichō," Shikamaru laid back on the rooftop with a drawn out yawn. "I'm beat."

Neither Rei or Hayase could fault him considering he beat two of Kigiri's lieutenants on his own. "Alright," Rei took out a field kit of medical supplies from her bag and threw it to Shikamaru who deftly caught it. "Check up on Sarugaku-taichō's wounds, they don't seem life threatening but I don't think he'll be in any condition to fight any time soon."

-ooo-

(With Naruto)

Naruto stood on top of Gamahiro's head and slid down the amphibian's arm to the smouldering remains of Kigiri and his summon. The Silver Demon of Iwa was still alive, suffering several burns and screaming hysterically over the death of his companion.

"YOU KILLED HIM!"

**"And good riddance,"** Gamabunta added with a croak.

Kigiri swung his cane at Naruto; the heat of the fire had melted the skin on his hand to the cane and it was rather disgusting. "HOW?" Kigiri screamed and charged for Naruto, but the young chūnin simply sidestepped and tripped the cane-wielding shinobi to the ground.

"How I beat you?" Naruto asked calmly and Kigiri gave the smallest of inclinations. "That was easy," Naruto took a seat on a broken piece of concrete. "You're weak, I'm not. That's why it was easy to beat you. That's all there is to it."

Kigiri snarled and rushed at him again, but Naruto back flipped of his seat and retaliated with a square punch to the face, sending Kigiri scrawling back over the floor and holding his face, muffling his screams of pain. "You fight for yourself, I fight for something much greater," Naruto said coolly. "You know, a while back I went to a little country called Nami no Kuni. I'm talking real tiny, not much bigger than this city even. Anyway, that's not what was interesting about. No, what was interesting was that I found out that for years they lived with the same situation the people of Tanzaku Gai do now." Naruto got up and slowly sauntered over, kicking Kigiri in the side with enough strength to send him crashing into the remains of a wall back on dirt. "I realised then and there, there would always be _scum_ like you around. Parasites that live off the weak and defenceless… Even though they're weaklings themselves," Naruto added with eerie smile.

"SILENCE! You don't know what you're talking about, _BOY_!"

Kigiri go to his feet in an attempt to rush at the blonde, but Naruto intercepted him and caught him by the neck and slammed him over his shoulder and crouched by him, his furious blue orbs piercing those of Kigiri as he squeezed the man's windpipe. "You're weak because your reason to fight is weak. Selfish, that's what you are and that's why someone like you could never beat someone like me! I learned not so long ago that a man with a cause will always triumph over one without." Naruto pulled him up and cast Kigiri aside as though he was nothing and reached for his tantō. "I'm not some idealistic kid. Not anymore. I know the world is crazy and fucked up, but that doesn't change the fact I can do something about it. That doesn't change the fact I can _kill_ you and at least save some people from harm."

Kigiri's eyes widened at the shining blade in Naruto's hand and swallowed thickly. "N- No, no, no, no! Not like this!" Kigiri scrambled to his feet but realised there was nowhere for him to go and turned around with derangement in his eyes. "NOT TO A CHILD! NOT TO A BOY!"

The absolute terror in Kigiri voice and eyes did nothing to perturb Naruto's resolve.

Naruto was behind him in an instant, blood gushing through the air as Kigiri slowly reached for his neck with both hands as blood spurted out of a deep slash in his throat.

"That's one less piece of shit on this earth," Naruto said coldly.

And those were the last words Kigiri heard as his body went through violent convulsions before finally coming to an end with one last kick of his feet.

There was moment of silence as Naruto looked at the man he had just killed.

The silence was broken by Gamahiro. **"I should go now, Uzumaki-san. Summoning me and sustaining my presence and as well as Gamabunta-sama's must be incredibly taxing on your reserves,"** Gamahiro croaked. **"I'll take this… creature with me, I'm sure we can have find some uses for its remains."**

As coldblooded as that sounded, Naruto knew toads were animals first and foremost and this was only to be expected. Besides they were coldblooded anyway. "Thanks, Gamahiro, would you mind if I summon you again the next time I need you? You don't have the tendency to beat me up first before you help me."

**"If ever need be, feel free to summon. I would consider it a great honour to be your familiar. Rrrribit!" **

"The honour's all mine, Gamahiro-san!"

Gamahiro croaked cheerfully and extended his giant tongue to the remains of Kigiri's summon and wrapped it around its paw. **"Until we meet again."**

_POOF! POOF!_

With two giant pillars of smoke Gamahiro and Kigiri's summon disappeared.

Naruto jumped onto Gamabunta mere seconds before Gamahiro disappeared. "Is it alright with you if Gamahiro becomes my familiar, Gamabunta?" Naruto sat down on the Toad Chief's head as they approach the burning remains of Kigiri's summon.

**"Suit yerself, kiddo!" **Gamabunta replied rather moodily.

"You sure you're OK?" Naruto asked, to which the Toad Chief rasp berried. "Alrighty then…, thanks for your help, big guy," Naruto slapped Gamabunta's giant leg, unable to reach any further. "You sure showed that lemur… squirrel…"

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned to the source of the new voice, it was Rei. "What are you doing here, Rei-chan?"

Rei punched him in the arm. "Stop calling me that," she then turned to Gamabunta and bowed respectfully as most Konoha-nin would have done. "Greetings, Gamabunta-sama. I apologise for striking your summoner-"

_WOOSH!_

Gamabunta's giant tongue bore down on Naruto and struck him so hard, he left a body print on the dirt. **"I like you already," **Gamabunta complimented.** "Do me a favour and look out for this idiot, he has a knack for getting in trouble. And for destroying things too, I might add considering the damage he did to the forest the last time he summoned me."**

"With your help, I might add!" Naruto shot back, his voice muffled under the dirt. "OUCH!"

Gamabunta struck again for good measure. **"I tell you what kid, this girl looks a lot more capable than that pink haired one you, you should ask her out."**

"I… I'm right here…" Rei's input went unnoticed.

"No way, she won't even let me call her 'Rei-chan', she'll probably kill me if I ask her out," Naruto struggled to get to his feet. "And seriously, what is up with you? I'm your underling, you're not supposed to hit your underlings for no reason!"

"Underling?" Rei repeated, though again she went unnoticed as Naruto was busy running away from Gamabunta's vengeful tongue.

Eventually Naruto ran out of steam and Gamabunta tongue-flicked him through the remainders of three walls as punishment for his insolence. **"I've got to go, Gaki, my diner's getting cold**. **Next time call for Gamahiro, I'm the Toad Chief, not your familiar!"**

Naruto smiled ominously with a temporary stroke of pure _evil genius_. "Jiraiya called you his familiar."

An undoubtedly cruel but not uncalled for move, Naruto thought. He had to get back at the hermit for throwing him down a ravine at some point, so why not now, with a perfect opportunity like this? The prankster in him commanded it.

**"WHAT? He did, did he? Well, I'll show that perverted hermit who's boss the next time he has the gall to summon me!" **Gamabunta exhaled a billow of smoke from his nostrils and grunted. **"Take care, Naruto." **

_POOF!_

As the enormous pillar of smoke was blown away by the wind, Naruto groaned, holding his head. "Stupid Gamabunta, always hitting me for no reason," Naruto grumbled. "He did more damage than Kigiri and his rodent sidekick combined!" The sad part about it was that Naruto wasn't even exaggerating, the toad packed a tongue! "Where are the others?"

Rei pointed a thumb an over her shoulder. "Hayase is with the police force, Shikamaru's tending to Sarugaku's wounds-" Naruto sniggered at this, "-Or sleeping, I don't know, he seemed rather tired. The other four are down and out, so catching their thugs is up to the police."

Naruto shook his head, "It doesn't have to be," he told her making a hand seal. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hundreds of pillars of smoke burst into existence as over 500 Naruto-clones surrounded the area and immediately took off. "That ought to do it."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Rei commented, looking at the hundreds of clones taking off.

Naruto shrugged. "Sorry if Gamabunta made you uncomfortable with that comment about me asking you out, he means well… I think."

Rei had the most subtle of blushes and decided to vent her embarrassment through sighing exasperatedly and crossing her arms over her chest. "He has a point though, you tend to destroy things unnecessarily."

"What?" Naruto couldn't believe it. "I didn't destroy anything, that was all Gamabunta! He can't control his temper and HE tends to lash out violently, not me!"

"What about the restaurant from earlier, you can't blame all of that on Gantetsu. Shikamaru told me you detonated a bomb in there."

Naruto opened his mouth and close again a few times, she had a point. "OK, fine, you got me there, but can you really blame me? That guy is huge!"

"Was," Rei corrected. "Sarugaku-taichō killed him."

"Right, he _was_ huge," Naruto amended, noticeable surprised Sarugaku had pulled that one off. "And for the record, it was a clone! Besides, desperate times make for desperate measure. The last time I used an exploding tag I- nevermind. You don't want to know what I did the last time I had an explosive tag." Naruto's mind wandered for a moment and he knew any kind of friendship with the red demon of the sand would be impossible; shaking his head Naruto shuddered at the thought. "You _really_ don't want to know."

"I don't intend to pry on that matter," Rei said dryly. "Still, my points stand. You completely destroyed an entire restaurant mere minutes after we got here."

"With help!"

This discussion went on for a while as the two made it back to the rest of their team; eventually the subject shifted from Naruto's destructive tendencies to other subjects. There was one in particular Rei seemed rather interested in.

"How did you meet Jiraiya-sama?" Rei asked a while later, coming to a standstill with their teammates close by. "Obviously you must have impressed him for him to make you his pupil, right?"

"Well…" Naruto took a thoughtful pose as he thought back to the time he met Jiraiya.

_"Oiroke no Jutsu!"_

He shook his head vehemently, knowing he would lose what little respect he had gained if he told her that particular story. "You don't want to know that either." He used to think the world of that particular jutsu, it was incredibly useful against perverts but now he had matured a little he knew it was incredibly humiliating for himself – perhaps more so than for his victims.

"Oh, from the look of your face I think I do."

"Well too bad, Rei-chan- AU!"

Rei swiftly punched him in the arm with annoyed expression. "Stop calling me that!"

Naruto rubbed the painful spot on with a frown. "For a girl you sure pack a punch, you could seriously hurt someone with those."

"You want another?"

"No, ma'am!" Naruto shook his head dutifully. "Just out of curiosity, why don't you like me calling you that?"

"It's unprofessional," Rei responded coolly.

"Our professional involves killing people," Naruto deadpanned.

She shrugged indifferently to the sentiment. "And, what's your point?"

"I don't think I have one," Naruto responded sagely, as though imparting her with great knowledge and wisdom.

Rei shook her head, "You're an idiot."

-ooo-

That night Hayase took point as acting team leader as Sarugaku was being treated for his injuries at the Tanzaku Gai hospital. When Naruto and Rei got back to the others the last of the thugs were being round up and the fire brigade were putting out shallow fires around the warehouse.

Journalists were on the scene taking statements of the police brass and several Magistrate officials whom were quite content in forgetting they had all been working with and under a corrupt chief to usurp as much credit as possible. Naruto had half a mind to expose every single one of them for the truly despicable people they were, but a deal was a deal. In exchange for police assistance, none of them would be mentioned in their investigation report on Tanzaku Gai's police force, though Shikamaru had warned them they would be put under close scrutiny for the time being and any further act of corruption would be met with the harshest of punishments. Fortunately, these guys weren't nearly as arrogant as their former chief and they readily agreed to the conditions Shikamaru set them.

Hayase gather the remaining members of Team 312 as Sarugaku was helped onto a stretcher and into a hospital carriage. "We're going to be staying in an inn for the night, we set out first thing in the morning."

"What about Sarugaku's wounds?" Naruto raised the issue with little to no sympathy for their TL, but the question had to be asked. "He looks like he just got him by a train."

Hayase shrugged. "According to Rei he's fit to travel, so first thing tomorrow we're hauling his ass out of the hospital and we're heading back to Konoha."

"I'll up his dosage for painkillers," Rei added. "If we keep him sedated until we get back to Konoha, there should be no complications."

Hayase nodded curtly and went to check up on Sarugaku one more time. Naruto pulled Rei aside, much to her annoyance.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up," Naruto whispered, reaching into his pouch and withdrawing a scroll, "You know how to use basic fūinjutsu right, storing and withdrawing?"

"Of course I do, I'm a medic-"

"In here is Kigiri's summoning scroll, I had a clone retrieve it."

Rei looked at the scroll offered to her and then to Naruto with a suspicious look in her eyes. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Well, for one I sure as hell can't use it since I killed Kigiri's summon so there's no way its kin will fight for me," Naruto glanced at Hayase and Sarugaku in the distance, "Secondly, I don't want that bastard Sarugaku claiming credit for bringing back a summoning scroll. So instead, I'd like you to have it."

"Why not Shikamaru? You two seem to be close," Rei asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I thought about it but Shika would probably refuse since that means he'll have to actually train how to summon them."

"I don't know how to summon either," Rei told him in a whisper. "Besides, I've already been put up on the list."

"What list?" Naruto asked.

Rei sighed exasperatedly, though Naruto could tell there was very little annoyance in her voice. "You don't really know much about how things work in Konoha, do you?" Naruto shrugged, prompting Rei to continue, "If you think you're summoner material, you can apply for training and if you pass they'll let you sign one of several summoning scrolls of Konoha. I'm still pending but I-"

"Just shut up and take it," Naruto reached behind her and dropped the scroll in her pouch; Rei pushed him back with a faint but visible red tinge on her cheeks.

"You should really know your boundaries, Uzumaki."

"And you should know when to be grateful, Rei-chan." The kunoichi gave him an annoyed look but it didn't last, he could tell she was happy with the gift even if she tried to pretend otherwise. "Look, if you still want to hand it in, go for it. They'll probably take you off the pending list and let you sign whichever contract you want if you do."

"Then why don't you hand it in," Rei reached for the pouch Naruto had put the scroll in but he grabbed her wrist.

"I can summon toads, even if they don't seem to listen to me very often…" Naruto sweat-dropped for a moment, "Anyway, I don't need the credit either. You, on the other hand, are a medical shinobi and summons can be pretty damn useful, even the smaller ones. So, take it."

"Hurry up, love birds!" Hayase called from a distance.

Rei quickly pulled back her hand and shot Hayase the coldest glare she could muster; then turning to Naruto, she caved. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Naruto told her with a smile.

"This doesn't mean I owe you though," Rei added as they began to follow Hayase and Shikamaru.

"What?" Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "You owe me big time! That's a summoning scroll no one else has signed, I checked."

"You can't expect people to return the favour when you give them a gift, that's poor upbringing."

Naruto shrugged, "I'm an orphan so suck it."

"Oh." From Rei's expression he could tell she felt incredibly guilty for her last remark.

"Don't feel bad, I don't," Naruto lied. "Come on, we should hurry up. Hayase is giving me thumbs up and that can't be right."

-ooo-

(A Few Days Later)

Naruto felt as though an enormous weight was lift of his shoulders as he walked past Konoha's giant gates. Immediately, his stomach demanded Ichiraku ramen and Naruto would gladly comply. It had only been a few days but already his body was suffering from withdrawal. It would also be a good opportunity to catch up with Teuchi and Ayame as his last visits had been rather rushed.

"Shikamaru, to Ichiraku's!" Naruto declared, pointing into the general direction Ichiraku's would be.

Shikamaru sighed. "Again? Why is it always Ichiraku's?"

"Silence!" Naruto commanded. "Don't offend the ramen, they'll hear you."

"All the way from here?" Shikamaru had a bemused look about him. The shadow-user finally did concede but with terms. "Alright, but you're buying."

"Again? That's like the third time in a row," Naruto complained in a child-like whining tone. "C'mon, Shika, you're a Nara. Your clan's loaded, why do I always have to pay for your meals, you greedy son of a bitch?"

"If you keep picking the same place to eat, sure."

"Now you just make it sound like I'm offering to pay," Naruto complained. "Which I'm not!" he added pointedly.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Take it or leave it."

Hayase chuckled at their exchange. "Mind if I tag along? I'm starving."

"Me too," Rei chimed in.

Naruto could already feel his wallet shrink. "Fine, but next time you're paying, Shikamaru-teme."

Hayase looked down to their unconscious team leader, still trapped on a cart they had appropriated in Tanzaku Gai, pulled by Naruto-clones. "We'll drop off Sarugaku first, then we'll eat."

"Do people really take this long to get better? It's been two days already," Naruto looked to Shikamaru for an answer.

The lazy genius shook his head, clearly bemused. "We're not all like you, Naruto."

"Haven't you ever been sick?" Rei asked.

Naruto shook head like a simpleton as though the concept of being sick didn't exist in his world. "Nope, never."

"Why am I not surprised?" Rei's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"You're a very sarcastic person, Rei."

"And you're very observant."

"Oh, well thanks- _hey!_"

-ooo-

A while later they were seated at Ichirikaku's, listening to Hayase exaggerated and wholly false accounts of how he faced two lieutenants on his own while bravely defending a defenceless Rei. Quite frankly, only Ayame seemed impressed by his false tales of grandeurs whilst his teammates stared at him with blank expressions.

"What happened next, Hayase-san?" Ayame was practically swooning over the counter now, much to Naruto's annoyance.

Even more so, Hayase indulged her. "Then this hot- I mean, incredibly dangerous kunoichi used this crazy rose petal genjutsu," Hayase scoffed, "Of course it had no effect on me, but Rei-chan here- I mean, Nakamura-san was… _also_… impervious… to the…eh.. to the genjutsu. Right, Nakamura-san?"

Ayame's expression faltered with the anticlimactic story telling. "Then what happened?"

Naruto tuned out to Hayase's tales and opted to strike up a conversation with the two teammates he actually liked. "Well, Shikamaru, considering you beat two and I took care of their boss, I think it's safe to say they can't pull seniority on us anymore."

"Tche!" Rei scoffed at this. "Strength isn't all that matters, Uzumaki. What if you had gotten injured, without a medic nin you would be done for. Luckily for you, that's when I step." Rei allowed herself a keen smirk of confidence, one Naruto found quite irksome.

"Right."

"You're even more troublesome when you hate, Naruto," Shikamaru pointed out between bites.

"Haters gonna hate," Naruto shrugged and dug in. They continued to talk some more as they ate, but Naruto grew annoyed with Hayase and his impure intentions with Ayame. The looks and gesture and shameless flirting were getting to him, thus decided to put a stop to it.

"So, Ayame, how about you and I go out-"

_Crack!_

With swift, precise movement, Naruto kicked a leg on Hayase's stool in a strategic area, breaking it and causing Hayase to fall backwards. "Woah!" Hayase flapped his arms but to no avail as he fell on his back. "Ouf!" he grunted.

It happened so fast Ayame's civilians eyes couldn't keep up.

"Hayase-san! Are you okay?" Ayame turned to walk around the counter but Naruto held up his hand extended hand to Hayase and who looked at him suspiciously.

Naruto pulled Hayase up by the hand and applied some pressure to his grip, speaking so low only Hayase could hear. "If I catch you hitting on her again like she's some random girl you can sleep with and never speak to again, I'll break your arms. Got it?"

"Got it," Hayase swallowed thickly and pulled another stool.

Naruto caught an approving nod from Teuchi, who had noticed what happened, and mouthed, 'Don't mention it' to the ramen chef as he brought him complimentary bowl.

"Ayame, come help me in the back will you?" Teuchi took his daughter by the hand and went it to the kitchen; his daughter cast on last lingering look but complied anyway.

"What's up with you?" Hayase clenched and unclenched his hand a few times. "Protective much, Uzumaki?"

"I've known her since I was a kid," Naruto told him. "In other words, she's off limits to you, got it? And if you think I was kidding, just wink at her and see what happens." Naruto's tone was casual, but nothing indicated his threats were empty.

Rei smiled slightly, glad Hayase finally got put in his place for once. "Let's just enjoy our meal," she changed the subject just in case Hayase got stupid enough to call Naruto on his threat.

"So, uh," Hayase looked uneasy but pressed on anyway, "How did you get Gamabunta to let you summon him, Naruto? Hell, how did you manage to summon the other one?"

Naruto slurped the last few of his noodles. "Technically speaking, I'm not the boss of Gamabunta," Naruto paused pragmatically and hung his head as he sweat-dropped, shame and humility settling in on his demeanour. "He sees me as his subordinate. The toads run their clan like a yakuza and Gamabunta's the boss. When I turn twenty-one, I need to share a drink with Gamabunta to officiate our bond for life."

Hayase burst out laughing and even Rei and Shikamaru joined him. The tension air was instantly lifted with the hilarious revelation.

"It's not that funny," Naruto sighed. "You got any idea how hard it's gonna be to find enough sake for him? We're talking at least six to ten barrels here. _For one cup!_"

"You can always water it down," Hayase suggested.

"He warned me about that," Naruto shivered, "I'd still like to retain the use of my limbs for the time being, so no thanks."

"What about the other frog?" Hayase asked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "_Toad, _Hayase. They're toads and unless you want to get squashed to death the next time you see them, you'll remember that." Hayase chuckled, thinking he was joking and Naruto continued. "The other _toad_ you saw was Gamahiro. He's one of Gamabunta's subordinates and now he's my familiar."

Shikamaru was impressed. "So he'll fight on your behalf now?" Naruto nodded and Shikamaru gave him and appreciative look. "I should sign my clan's summoning contract, that'll make fighting considerably less troublesome."

"What animal does your clan have?" Rei asked, now genuinely interested.

"Deer," Shikamaru replied.

Naruto sniggered, "Deer?"

"They're better than amphibians, toad boy," Shikamaru shot back. "My clan tends deer and collects their antlers for medicinal uses," Shikamaru elaborated to which Hayase and Rei nodded.

"Well, Rei and I aren't as lucky as you, so we've applied for summoning licenses. I'm hoping to sign Konoha's hawk summon contract."

"What about you, Rei-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Buzzards," she curtly replied. "They're smaller but more agile. They'll probably take less chakra to summon than hawks so that's another advantage."

"Especially for a medic, huh? You guys can't just squander your chakra," Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Like you would understand," Rei mocked. "You have more chakra than all of us combined, I'd say it's not even human."

Naruto shrugged and pushed himself of the counter. "I'm calling it a day. We've got debriefing tomorrow, so I'll see you guys then."

"Later Naruto," said Hayase jovially.

A little _too_ jovially.

This prompted Naruto to turn around with a final death glare that foretold a world of pain, should the perverted swordsman make a move on Ayame. "Remember, no fly zone, Hayase."

…

Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and parted the high curtains as he left the ramen bar. He was halfway down the street when Rei caught up with him.

"Naruto."

"Naruto?" he repeated bemused. "What happened to 'Uzumaki'?" He made a point of mimicking Rei's detached tone. "What ya want?"

Rei's eyebrow twitched but she got on with it. "This summoning scroll… Can you teach me how to summon ferrets?"

"Oh, so _that's_ what that creature was. A ferret," Naruto tapped his fist in his palm with a dawning expression, as though a light bulb had turned on above his head. "I thought it was a lemur…"

"So, can you teach me how to summon?" Rei asked again. It was evident in her body language she wasn't too big on asking people for help, and Naruto picked up on it when he gave her the scroll. She was like him in that sense.

"Sure, I'll teach you how to summon…"

"Ferrets."

"Right, ferrets. I'll teach you how to summon them but you owe me. I don't run a charity here," Naruto said with a smirk.

Rei smiled too. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Uzumaki."

"Naruto?"

Rei shook her head slowly and Naruto kicked the dirt. "Of course not. See you later, Rei-chan."

"Don't call me that."

Her complaint fell on deaf ears as Naruto strode down the road back to his apartment.

(The Following Day: Briefing Room One)

Naruto and Shikamaru met up outside of the Hokage Tower the next morning, still somewhat tired but they couldn't complain too much. With Sarugaku out of commission, it was unlikely for them to be sent on missions outside of Konoha.

"Had a goodnight sleep?" Shikamaru asked as they entered the tall cylinder shaped Hokage Tower.

Naruto shrugged and stifled a yawn. "What's with the small talk, Shika?" He hadn't slept much at all actually, having stayed up late into the night reading up on fūinjutsu and practicing lightning chakra applications with a handful of clones in his apartment.

"You look tired."

"So do you."

"I was just making conversation," Nara shrugged.

Naruto wasn't buying it and he grinned knowingly and Shikamaru caught it, prompting him give in. "I spoke to my old man last night-"

"You want my help on summoning deer, don't you?" Naruto interrupted. "You're probably tired because for once you actually stayed up all night to practice but you haven't gotten anywhere, have you?"

From Shikamaru's body language, he could tell he had hit the nail on the head as the lazy genius stuffed his hands in his pockets with a shrug and nodded. "It's tougher than I thought," Shikamaru admitted with an begrudging tone.

"Why didn't you ask your old man for help?" Naruto asked as they turned a corner past the reception.

"He said was too busy to teach me how to do it himself but he let me sign the contract last night. He said not to worry about the tribute though, whatever that means."

"Hmm," Naruto adopted a thoughtful look and rubbed his chin, "I don't know about deer, but whenever I summon Gamabunta's kids they expect food, so whatever it is deer usually expect, you probably don't have to provide it since your dad is the holder of the contract, right?" Naruto stretched his arms above his head, curving his neck slightly.

"Right," Shikamaru agreed. "So will you teach me how to summon?"

Naruto furrowed his brows. "I'm not exactly qualified to teach anyone, Shika. Rei asked me the same thing last night and I told her I'd help, but I'm not sure if I'm the right person to talk to. Maybe you should wait till your dad's got the time to do it himself."

"Rei's got a summoning contract-" Shikamaru's genius caught on quick and he slowly nodded. "The summoning contract Kigiri had, you gave it to her. Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "Why not? It's not like I could use it."

"Have you got any idea how much a summoning contract is worth? Why didn't you hand it over-" Again, the shadow-user's genius was lagging behind. "I see, Sarugaku."

"Correct," Naruto nodded as they turned another corner to the briefing hall.

Shikamaru sighed. "You could've handed it in yourself and gotten all the credit."

"That's not why I gave it to Rei though."

"Then why did you?" Shikamaru raised a curious eyebrow, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You're not following in Hayase's footsteps are you?"

Naruto took affront to the comment. "How dare you," he said in a mocking tone. "Of course not. Chasing girls might be fun but my chances with any girl here are pretty slim… I mean, considering my reputation," Naruto quickly added. He had gone and spoken without thinking and nearly said something he shouldn't have.

"Probably," Shikamaru massaged the back of his neck as they came to a stop in front of Briefing Room One.

…

A round of applause went by as Naruto and Shikamaru pushed through the door. Their peers of the Nijū Shōtai and a few others they hadn't seen before were standing and clapping, some even whistled and made other celebratory noises.

"Congratulations you two!" Their platoon leader Kizu Enrō approached them and placed a paw-like hand on their shoulders. "You two have done _great_ work since you joined the platoon. I'm sure before long we'll lose you to other departments, but for the time being you are rookies no more. You've earned these," Enrō held up triangular pieces of white cloth with red circles in the middle, with 'Nijū Shōtai' embroiled in gold-coloured weave. "Wear 'em with pride, boys!" Enrō patted his bicep to indicate a similar cloth of his own. "I made 'em myself. All of the seasoned members in my platoon get one."

Naruto was swept into a throng of his colleagues, all of whom wanted to shake his hand and pat him on the shoulder and ask him about his latest mission as though he were some superhero. The cloth nearly slipped out of his fingers as Naruto felt a wave of humility, happiness and euphoria and hundreds of other emotions he couldn't register wash over him. He had never been the centre of attention like this. He had never been thought of as one of the formidable, dependable, _respectable_ guys in the group. For the first time in his life, Naruto felt _truly_ _acknowledge. _He felt as though he had achieved a lifelong dream, and in a sense, Naruto realised, he had. There were probably no more than forty shinobi in the briefing room but Naruto felt as though he had just won over the entire village and it felt _great_.

"HELL YEAH!" Naruto punched the air with the cloth still in his hand.

His colleagues cheered and joined him in his chants whilst Shikamaru slid into the background with a content grin, leaning against a wall to tie the cloth around his thigh whilst Naruto recounted tales of his battle against Kigiri.

"Hayase here tells me you summoned Gamabunta, is that true?" asked Midori, a seasoned chūnin Naruto knew to a member of Team 311. Several others nodded as well, wanted to know the answer to that question themselves.

"It's not as big of a deal as you think it is," Naruto shrugged modestly. It was childish, despicable even perhaps, but he enjoyed the praises he got for his modesty. "Shikamaru here took out at least two, isn't that right, Shikamaru?"

"Leave me out of this," the lazy genius responded curtly, getting a round of boisterous laughter.

"Hey, Uzumaki, now that you took care of this hot-shot Iwa nuke-nin, it doesn't sound so crazy anymore when people say _you _defeated Sabaku no Gaara," said another chūnin whom Naruto barely knew.

Naruto frowned, he didn't exactly want to get into that right now. Not to misunderstand, Naruto was glad people were starting to believe him but he didn't want to distract from the team effort he had experienced in Tanzaku Gai. "Yeah, uh, let's not talk about that?"

"Ah, come on! Why not?" shouted another.

Enrō cleared his throat loudly. "Alright, that's enough! We still have work to do, so get back to your seats for briefing!"

Naruto exhaled deeply and took his seat next Shikamaru with a grin and a nod to Rei and Hayase who had also clearly gotten some of the credit, judging by their dispositions. 'So this is what acknowledgement feels like on a larger scale,' Naruto thought. 'It usually took me so long to get acknowledged by just one person but this… this is something else.'

"Today is a good day for the Nijū Shōtai of Border Patrol, boys and girls," Kizu announced with a broad smile as he stood behind the lectern. "This morning I was handed a large document on a new, international criminal organisation known as Akatsuki." Kizu gave pause for comments, there were none. "The Akatsuki are shrouded in mystery. We know very little of its origins, its leaders or even their motives if. What we _do_ know however, is this: they are as big as it gets to criminal activity and they've been around for quite some time." Kizu picked up a remote from the lectern and nodded to one of his assistants stand by the door, who closed it and turned off the lights as the second assistant in the back finished setting up a old and battered looking carousel slide projector.

The room went dark and Kizu began switching past slides with his remote. "They are involved in everything and when I say everything, I mean _everything_, people. Drugs, weapons, slave trade, contract killing, mercenary work, _civil war_– you name it, they're involved."

"How come this the first time we've heard of them if they're so big?" asked a chūnin sat a row behind Naruto.

"Please keep all questions to yourself until I say otherwise," Kizu frowned. "But to answer your question, the reason why we haven't heard of the Akatsuki until now is due to their secrecy. The leading figures of Akatsuki have avoided detection for years through their highly secretive method. In truth, most of the criminal organisations we know of now are a part of Akatsuki one way or another. As crazy as it sounds, that's the truth. For years the Akatsuki have been silently taking over and subordinating criminal organisations all over the world. Up until recently, however, they've started to act more openly and have become a serious threat to our homeland, which is exactly why we have to deal with them."

The slides moved to pictures of large freighters bearing in on others.

"Piracy," Kizu said simply. "The Akatsuki has gotten so strong, they can effectively put a blockade on any given country on the coast. Our Marine Division took these photographs on the coast of Cha no Kuni, and as you can see in these slides, if you look closely at the ships..."

"There's red clouds on the flags and on the sides of the ships!"

"Correct," Kizu nodded. "We believe red clouds are the symbol of the Akatsuki, a reference to the Red Dawn they speak of, by which we believe they mean a revolution, a new era that will be paid for in bloodshed. Though it is too early to tell, these Akatsuki may be more than simply an international criminal organisation and as you can see, we have limited information the Akatsuki as they have only recently started to set up operations in Hi no Kuni. It is for this reason and this reason only our platoon has been pulled off the scouting rotation and is tasked with investigating their presence. At the end of this briefing, all of you will be given a dossier on all of our current information on the Aka-"

Rushed sounds outside of the briefing room interrupted Kizu; Naruto didn't know why but he suddenly felt a sense of dread as though something bad was about to happen. It was suddenly as if all briefings were put to a stop as doors were slammed, people started to argue loudly outside and a sense of panic spread.

It wasn't until Naruto's slightly sensitive ears picked something up that he understood his clairvoyant sense of dread.

_"Hokage-sama is down!"_

_"What? That's impossible!"_

Naruto stood up and began making his way to the door, by now everyone else had heard too. "What the fuck is going on, Hokage-sama is down?" one of the chūnin shouted as Naruto ran past him – he hadn't even noticed he was running. They all began to shout as every began talking at once and even their platoon leader was in apparent shock as he didn't shout them down or notice Naruto running out of the room.

Shikamaru called after him, but Naruto wasn't listening. 'Impossible,' Naruto repeated the thought over and over in his mind like a mantra as he continued to run. 'The old man was fine the last time I saw him. There's no way he would just collapse, it has to be a stupid rumour or a misunderstanding.' And yet Naruto continued to run as though his life depended on it.

The reception to the Hokage Tower was packed with shinobi and councilmen, all of whom were loudly demanding to know where the Hokage was. Naruto pushed past them to reception and saw Izumo and Kotatsu shouting back at the crowd.

"Hokage-sama was taken to the hospital by his ANBU detail due to an asphyxiation attack!" Kotatsu shouted over the loud demands. "We don't know what caused it, nor do we know his current condition. Before you all decide to rush over to the hospital, the captain of his ANBU detail requested me to remind you that they will not allow any non-essential visits once the Hokage is stabilised. He also clarified the council will have to invoke Clause Four and take over village proceedings until further notice."

"It must be his injuries from fighting Orochimaru!"

"Let the council take over? They're the ones that caused this. They rushed him into getting back to work so soon before his injuries healed properly!"

"What are you talking about, the council is not to blame for any of this!"

"Of course _you _would say that!"

"What's that supposed to mean, huh, bastard?"

The arguments fell on deaf ears.

Everything did.

Naruto felt as though he was walking under water. He didn't hear anything. He could only feel his own gripping fear that the one person who had always loved him unconditionally was slipping away. The one man he respected more than anyone else, loved more than anyone else… was dying.

Naruto turned around again and ran outside the Hokage Tower and headed to the hospital.

He didn't care if he would have to fight the entire ANBU department himself, he was going to see his grandfather before it was too late.

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital)

Naruto was breathing heavily by the time he arrived at the hospital; he leaned onto the counter with sweat running down the side of his head as he rasped between breaths. "I need to see the Hokage immediately."

The middle-aged receptionist shook her head. "No visitors are authorised," she said coldly. It was a slap in the face compared to the warmth Naruto had felt when he earned his cloth less than an hour ago. "What are _you_ out of all people doing here anyway? Leave before I call security-"

_CRACK!_

Naruto's fist sunk three inches into the counter. "Don't give me that _fucking shit_, lady!" Naruto shouted at her, spitting the profanities with venom. "Where are you keeping the Hokage? I _need_ to see him NOW!"

"Like I said, _filth_-"

Naruto lunged over the counter and seized the receptionist by her robe and pulled her close with a snarl. "Listen, bitch! I don't have time for your games! I need to see the old man, tell me where he is or I'll force it out of you!" Naruto had never threatened anyone like this, especially not a villager, but the situation was too grave for him to take the insults meekly. He was done with that the day he was promoted and he was determined to make the people respect them, and if that didn't work, they would _fear _him.

"Security!" the receptionist screamed. She trashed oddly in his grip, somewhat resembling a hawk.

Naruto momentarily lost it and swung back his hand, readying it to strike woman when he felt a sudden resistance. Naruto's eyes widened as he found himself staring into a white porcelain mask of an ANBU operative.

"Uzumaki Naruto, come with me."

Naruto glared at the masked shinobi, pulling his hand back with a sudden jerk of his shoulder. "Who are you?"

"I am Rooster. You are here to see Hokage-sama, correct?" the ANBU asked with monotone voice, to which Naruto nodded. "Then simply come with me. Hokage-sama has authorised you to see him."

Naruto paused for a moment and then nodded, to which the ANBU responded by placing a hand on his shoulder and instantly Shunshining them away.

…

Naruto's head spun momentarily but he bit through the pain, refusing to show his disorientation and followed the ANBU, matching his brisk pace down the closed off section of the hospital. For the most part the entire floor was cast in shadows, but there was a bright like coming from the end of the hall, likely the Hokage's room.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, feeling an eerie sense he was being watched by more than just one pair of eyes. "I heard he had an asphyxiation attack in his office, that he was unable to breath and you had to rush him here for an emergency operation. Was it successful?"

"It was indeed," replied Rooster shortly.

Naruto wasn't assured. "So… he'll be OK?"

Rooster gave no reply and stopped right in front of the room where two ANBU operators were stationed. "Here we are."

Naruto looked reached for the door knob, his heart in his throat, and turned it as he pushed through and walking into a spacious room. Naruto's eyes immediately fell on the aged Hokage, hooked onto a respirator and several other large and complicated looking machines. To his right were a doctor and a nurse, strange Naruto would've thought if he hadn't realised the frail old man must have gone through extensive surgery in which technology, not medical jutsu, was used.

"Naruto."

Naruto's eyes finally fell up on the tall, broad-shouldered and imposing figure of none other than Jiraiya. "Ero-sennin…" The perverted hermit for once didn't twitch at the nickname. "What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, approaching the foot of the bed.

"I was once his student you know," Jiraiya reminded him, to which Naruto gave a small nod, fully understanding the Toad Sage now.

Naruto forced himself to look away from the Hokage, he didn't like seeing him so weak but it was hard not to look, even if he was strapped up to dozens of tubes and a respirator that covered his entire body. "What happened?" Naruto's tone was almost demanding. "I was in briefing downstairs when I heard about it. Is he going to be OK?"

Jiraiya sighed and nodded to the doctor who then gave a dry cough and read from his chart. "Hokage-sama was admitted with a severe case of asphyxiation and liver failure. The surgery was a success and he's stabilised for the time being but… he may never be able to channel chakra again."

"Wh- _what_?" Naruto hissed. "You're telling me he'll have to step down?"

"His injuries are quite serious, Uzumaki-san." Of course he knew who Naruto was. "At his age, his body was already deteriorating to the point he could no longer make use of the large chakra reservoirs he once commanded in his youth. His body simply can't keep up with it and he has slowly been become less and less powerful, losing more and more chakra over the years through age and natural muscle degeneration. We refer to this condition as chakra degeneration. It is a quite simple but rare condition as not many shinobi live to reach seventy."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto shouted at the man. "The old man is the strongest shinobi in the village, the world even! How could be so strong if he's been suffering of this chakra degeneration crap you're talking about?"

Jiraiya walked over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The doctor knows what he's talking about, Naruto. Enma, the old man's personal summon, came by earlier and told me what happened during his fight with Orochimaru. Like I suspected, it was pitiful compared to what sensei was capable of in his prime."

Had it been a different situation, Naruto would've been shocked to find out summons could travel to the human world on their own accord, but unfortunately this was not a different situation. "O- Orochimaru? That happened months ago. What are you- are you saying it was the old man's injuries from the fight that caused this?" Jiraiya said nothing, merely casting his gaze to the doctor. "I thought you said he was here because of his chakra degeneration!"

The medical professional adjusted his glasses and shook his head. "Not quite. The injuries Hokage-sama suffered in his battle with Orochimaru hadn't had proper time to heal due to Hokage-sama returning to work so soon. The biopsy results came back and we detected a string of highly toxic poison, most likely delivered through the puncture wounds in the Hokage's chest from a poisoned blade. We didn't catch it the first time around because, well, to be quite frank, it is an ingenious piece of work."

"The _fuck_ did you just say, Doc?" Naruto looked like was about to throw a punch at the doctor, but Jiraiya held him in his place with a firm grip on his shoulder.

"You might want to rephrase that," Jiraiya warned calmly, also looking none too pleased.

"Of course, my apologies. What I meant to say was that the poison, or virus really, developed over time like a leech. So far, our research has concluded that the virus feeds on the chakra and life energy of the host. A shinobi's body would be the perfect incubator due to its developed Chakra Pathways and reservoirs. Coupled with Hokage-sama's chakra degeneration, this virus will only deal more damage. The less chakra in the body, the faster it can break it down."

"Can you fix it?" Jiraiya asked calmly.

The doctor gave a long and pointedly pause. "I… am afraid not. This type of ailment may be slowed down by dialysis sessions and short term remedies, but it is quite unlikely anything I have ever seen before. You may want to call in a medical ninja, perhaps they are the better suited doctors for Hokage-sama's condition."

"No," Jiraiya said immediately. "There's only one person that could possibly fix this."

The doctor caught on immediately. "Ah yes, but unfortunately _she_ left the village quite a few years ago."

"What, who are you two talking about?" This wasn't a good time for Naruto be out of the loop, if there ever was any time. "Who are you talking about, Ero-sennin? This woman, she can heal the old man?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression and eyes fixated on the frail body of Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Maybe, but if anyone can it's gotta to be her. I'm confident that she could save his life," Jiraiya nodded a few times. "She cured countless poisons and viruses in her career. The problem is going to be to find her though."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, he felt rather annoyed with Jiraiya. They knew the solution to their problem, why was he wasting time? "Then what are we waiting for?" he checked his pouch and nodded to himself, he still had all of his equipment sealed up. "If you say she could help, then let's go find her. We can leave right now."

"We?" Jiraiya appeared genuinely taken back by the determined look in Naruto's eyes and after a moment he sighed and then smiled. "I wouldn't have had it any other way, kid."

"Jiraiya."

Naruto's response died in his throat as they both looked to the door where an elderly man and woman stood side by side. Naruto could vaguely remember seeing them on occasion when he went to visit the old man back when he was still a kid.

Jiraiya seemed to know who they were. "Koharu, Homura…"

"Still as impudent as ever," Koharu remarked snidely as they strode into the room. "What is he doing here, Jiraiya? Hiruzen is in grave condition, he has no business here."

"Rooster brought him up, so he must've been authorised by the old man. Hard to believe he put you two on the list though," Jiraiya added with a subtle glare. "What are you two doing here anyway? Come to pay your respects already?"

"That joke is in poor taste, Jiraiya," rebuked Homura in his gruff voice. "We were once his teammates, and now we are his personal advisors. Of course we would be here."

Jiraiya looked to the unconscious Hokage for a moment. "Well, knock yourselves out. Naruto and I were just leaving."

"Ah, yes. You are about to embark on a search for Tsunade then?" Homura inferred.

"You heard that? My privacy seals must be getting sloppy," Jiraiya frowned. "You can't stop me," he said after another moment of tense silence.

"What would make you think we would want to stop you?" Koharu challenged with an audible disdain in her voice. "We did not hear of your plans but we had anticipated them. It so happens we want you to retrieve Tsunade. That would be in the best interest of the village." She looked to her partner and he nodded to her reassuringly.

"And why's that?" Naruto spoke up for the first time.

Both elders looked upon him at once, disdain in their eyes. "Isn't it obvious, Naruto?" Jiraiya's tone grew cold as ice. "They want us to bring Tsunade back so they can replace the old man with her."

"No way!" Naruto shouted with an angry glare directed at the two advisors. "You can't do that! That hat belongs to the old man!"

"We can and we are," Homura responded coolly. "Know your place, Uzumaki, this does not concern a _chūnin_. Ideally, of course," he then added as he directed his gaze to Jiraiya, "You would have been our candidate for the seat of Hokage, but…"

"You know I'd tell you to shove it up your collective asses, you and whoever else supported you," Jiraiya finished without missing a beat. "Well good luck with getting Tsunade to accept the job because you'd have a much easier time convincing Orochimaru to take it."

"_Jiraiya!_" Koharu said sternly.

Naruto had to admire Jiraiya's guts, he was talking down to two of the most powerful people in Hi no Kuni without so much as batting an eyelash. Naruto wondered how Sarugaku would've handled the situation. That almost brought a smile to his face.

Almost.

"Fine, I'll ask her when I see her but-"

"If she doesn't take the job, you will," Koharu interrupted coolly.

"_I will?_" Jiraiya challenged aggressively, it was rather an odd sight for Naruto to see Jiraiya act like… well, him. "And what gave you that bright idea, you old bat?"

Koharu smiled smugly with a knowing expression. "Because you are your master's student," she said simply. "You may have travelled for years and refused countless of summons but when there's trouble home you always come back running, Jiraiya. That is why you came back to warn Hiruzen of the invasion and it is why you are here, by his side now. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you disappointed him, would you?" Koharu glanced at her former teammate. "In some ways, you are still the same needy little boy you were all those years ago."

Naruto's breath hitched; he could feel the tension rise and it was as if the room temperature fell far below zero.

After what seemed an eternity, Jiraiya finally conceded. "… Fine. I'll try to convince her to take the job as impossible as that may be."

"Good," Homura said with a dry cough reminding Naruto vaguely of an elderly Sarugaku. "I'll prepare a team of ANBU-"

"That won't be necessary," Jiraiya cut off, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I'll be taking this brat with me. If we're going to do this, we're going to do this my way."

"Jiraiya…" Koharu began.

The Toad Sage didn't back down on this one though. "Look, if you send a team of ANBU to retrieve Tsunade you're just asking for trouble. The last time we spoke, she was pretty rusty but she can still handle herself better than most. To be blunt, I don't think you can afford to have an entire ANBU team out of commission."

'An entire ANBU team? This Tsunade can't be that strong, can she?' It was mind boggling to even think of the possibility someone could be that strong. From the way they were talking, Naruto got the impression this Tsunade lady could take on even Jiraiya! "Hey, Ero-sennin, this Tsunade lady is pretty strong then, huh?"

"The strongest," Jiraiya affirmed. "She was my teammate along with Orochimaru when we were the old man's students."

Homura sneered at Naruto's lack of knowledge. "_This _is who you choose as a student? This is the fool you picked over all others we recommended to you to sign the toad summoning contract? Jiraiya, I must say, you disappoint me."

Jiraiya opened his mouth to say something but Naruto beat him to it. "Hey old man."

"_Old man?_" Homura repeated incredulously. "Do you have any idea who you are-"

"You're fired."

Jiraiya burst out laughing and so did the doctor as Koharu and Homura shared quizzical expressions. "Excuse me?" Koharu demanded.

"You're not excused," Naruto responded. "A few years from now, if you haven't kicked the bucket by then, and I'm looking at you to go first granny, consider yourselves fired when I put on that Hokage hat," Naruto declared with cavalier bravado. "Neither of you have faith in the old man even though you're supposed to know him better than anyone else. When I'm the Hokage, I'm giving both of you the boot and believe me that won't take as long as you think."

Before either of the flabbergasted advisors could respond, Jiraiya tugged Naruto along by his sleeve. "Let's go, Naruto, we've got a long journey ahead of us," said the Toad Sage. "Don't send anyone to follow us, you won't like what happens if you do."

The door slammed shut with a bang.

"… That boy may be the spitting image of _him_ but he has _her_ personality," said Homura.

"Unfortunately he is nowhere near as talented as his father."

Homura shook his head. "I believe it is yet too early to tell, Koharu. He may very well surpass him one day, if his determination is anything to go by."

"Such nonsense does not become you, Homura," Koharu snorted derisively.

And then they too left the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

And there you have it, chapter four earlier than promised.

I'm still having to pick out the errors myself since I have yet to receive word from my beta, so if you find any mistakes and you want them rectified, feel free to PM me. Just don't dedicate entire reviews to my spelling mistakes, it's damn depressing!

Anyway, here's hoping y'all enjoyed that chapter. It was fun to write though I had my doubts on the way I ended the Tanzaku Gai mission, but I wanted it over and done with it as soon as possible. What do you guys think of Gamahiro being Naruto's familiar? I had originally intended for it to be Gamaken but I decided against it due to a fairly recent chapter in the manga in which Naruto summoned Gamahiro – I thought that was pretty bad ass and it inspired me to choose Gamahiro over Gamaken. Next chapter we'll start the Search for Tsunade arc - spoiler alert - it's going to have some pretty cool twists and turns.

Thanks for the **reviews** on the last chapter, here's hoping you'll keep it up with this one and the chapters that follow. The more reviews, the fast I update. It's a motivation thing, ya'knamean?

…

**Jutsu Used:**

(Jutsu: Suiton: Teppōdama – Water Bullet!) – C rank, offensive, mid-long range. The user moulds chakra, and converts it into water, and then spits it out in the form of condensed balls. The high-speed water ball attack possesses great strength and can kill upon impact. While this is a Suiton technique, it can still be employed someplace where no water is available, which is a great advantage.

(Jutsu: Konoha-Ryū: Sazanami Konoha – Rippling Leaf!) – C rank, offensive, short range. The user of this technique will prepare the attack by creating optic illusions with his sword(s) through rippling motions, catching the intended target in a mild illusion that serves to distract and disorientate. When used, the swords are often said to resemble leafs falling of a branch,

(Jutsu: Magen: Sanjūshi – Demonic Illusion: Triple Vision!) – C rank, supplementary, mid range. A simple, low-level genjutsu designed to temporarily distract, disrupt and disorientate the intended target by meddling with his or visual receptive field.

(Jutsu: Hissatsu Sakura Arashi - Sure Killing Sakura Storm!) – B rank, offensive, mid range. A slightly more advanced genjutsu used by the Iwa nuke-nin Rosaria to create illusionary rose petals to swarm the intended target. This genjutsu is so strong it can make the body believe it is actually being harmed and can thus cause serious damage if used properly.

...

**Character Stats**

_Team 312 characters_

Uzumaki Naruto | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 2.5 | Bukijutsu: 1 | Genjutsu: 0.5 | Intelligence: 2.5 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 4.5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control: 1.5** | Total: 25.5 |**

Nara Shikamaru | Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 1.5 | Bukijutsu: 1 | Genjutsu: 2 | Intelligence: 4.5 | Strength: 1.5 | Speed: 1.5 | Stamina: 1.5 | Chakra: 1.5 | Chakra Control: 3.5** | Total: 20.5 |**

Sarugaku Tsuzumi | Ninjutsu: 2.5 | Taijutsu: 2 | Bukijutsu: 2 | Genjutsu: 1.5 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 2.5 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 3** | Total: 22.5 |**

Hayase | Ninjutsu: 2.5 | Taijutsu: 2 | Bukijutsu: 2.5 | Genjutsu: 1 | Intelligence: 2 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 2.5 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 2.5** | Total: 22 |**

Nakamura Rei | Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 1.5 | Bukijutsu: 1 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 1.5 | Speed: 1.5 | Stamina: 1.5 | Chakra: 1.5Chakra Control: 4** | Total: 20.5 |**

_Kuroda-gumi characters_

Kigiri | Ninjutsu: 2.5 | Taijutsu: 2 | Bukijutsu: 2.5Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 2.5 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 2 | Chakra: 3 | Chakra Control: 3** | Total: 25 | **

Gantetsu | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 1 |Genjutsu: 1 | Intelligence: 1.5 | Strength: 3 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 3 | Chakra Control: 1.5** | Total: 22 |**

Kihō Ninjutsu: 2.5 | Taijutsu: 1.5 |Bukijutsu: 2.5Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 1 | Speed: 1.5 | Stamina: 2 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 3 **| Total: 21.5 |**

Kogero | Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 1 | Genjutsu: 0.5 | Intelligence: 1 | Strength: 3 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 2** | Total: 20 |**

Rosaria | Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 2 | Bukijutsu: 2| Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 2.5 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 2 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 3** | Total: 22 | **


	5. Chapter 5: The Search for Tsunade

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 05-10-11_

_Updated: 30-12-13_

_**And the second arc begins! Don't forget to REVIEW for quick updates!**_

_**Spelling check by goku90504**_

**ARC 2: The Search for Tsunade**

CH5: The Search for Tsunade

CH6: The Rasengan Challenge

CH7: Tsunade the Terrible

CH8: The Future Hokage

* * *

><p>CH5: The Search for Tsunade<p>

* * *

><p>(Hi no Kuni Countryside)<p>

Autumn was approaching later than usual in Hi no Kuni. It was that time of the year when the vistas were only just staring to adapt to the climate change and the weather got noticeably chillier and the sun was going down earlier than it did during the summer. Wind bellowed leafs past Naruto and Jiraiya as they walked down the dirt road in the countryside forestry for what seemed hours on end, embarked on a quest to retrieve none other than the legendary kunoichi, Senju Tsunade, granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage and quite possibly the only person in the world that could save Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"So where did you say we were going again?" Naruto asked, detaching his canteen from his utility belt and taking a sip of refreshing water. They had been travelling for eleven days now, journeying from town to town, city to city, in search of Tsunade the Slug Sannin, said to be the greatest healer in the world. It was she, who Jiraiya believed to be the only capable of saving the Sandaime's life.

"Just keep doing that exercise I showed you," Jiraiya told him, not particularly answering his question and chucking a water balloon over his shoulder.

Naruto frowned, but deftly caught the water balloon in his free hand and gripped onto it. "What kind of chakra control exercise is this anyway? I've been trying for days but the damn thing won't pop. Can't I just use clones to do it for me? It'd sure as hell cut down the time process."

"No," Jiraiya replied sternly as he had done so many times before when posed with the question. "Now get cracking, we still got a long way ahead of us."

"You know, this isn't like anything I expected when you told me you were going to be teaching me stuff," Naruto complained as he channelled his chakra into the water balloon, willing it to burst. It was much harder than it sound, popping a water balloon with chakra, and though Jiraiya had yet to tell him what this chakra exercise was for, Naruto persevered, intent on finding it out on his own. He had nothing but time to kill anyway, as they journeyed to their destinations on foot. "My team is going to be pissed at me when I get back. I don't think they know what happened to me. Then again, why would they know? You said this was a secret A-ranked mission, didn't you?" Naruto didn't know why retrieving a Hokage candidate wasn't an S-ranked mission, he seriously could've used the money and the distinction on his file. That would definitely piss off Sarugaku.

Jiraiya didn't respond and kept walking. Naruto would've liked nothing better than to pelt Jiraiya with the water balloon but he had been given the impression this exercise was too important for him to wasting the balloons on such childish escapades, and so the young jinchūriki continued to channel chakra through the balloon and tried to manipulate the water inside of the balloon to explode.

"Try spinning," Jiraiya suggested after a while.

"Spinning?" Naruto repeated. "Alright…" Naruto conceded after another moment of silence. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath as he fine exercised as much possible control over his chakra as he channelled it into the balloon. 'Spin… spin… SPIN, damn it!'

Naruto almost jumped as he felt the water spin in the water balloon rapidly. "I did it- I mean, I'm doing it!" Naruto hadn't expected to be this excited over achieving some progression but he was. "Now to up the chakra output…"

With a snapping sound the water balloon burst and Naruto's right hand felt wet. "Hell yeah, it worked!" He punched the air and Jiraiya shot him an approving smile over his shoulder. "So what now, Ero-sennin?"

"Just keep practicing," Jiraiya threw another water balloon over his shoulder, "And stop calling me that, you're cramping my style."

"What style?" Naruto mocked. "Perving on girls less than half your age? Right, _that's_ style."

"Would it pain you so much to show a little respect," Jiraiya complained, hanging his head as they continued down the dirt road. "You got any idea what people would give to be my apprentice? Seriously, you're the luckiest kid in Konoha to have me as your master."

Naruto's eyes fell into a deadpan stare. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone would just LOVE being thrown down a ravine at random."

"That wasn't at random," Jiraiya said defencively. "And in case you forgot, you can draw out the Kyūbi's chakra and summon toads now. Have you got any idea how tough it is to get a summoning contract, let alone one with the toads?"

Naruto rubbed his chin. "You know, Shikamaru said the same thing when I gave away a summoning contract."

Jiraiya face-planted midstride but quickly got to his feet. "You _gave away_ a summoning contract?" Naruto nodded, to which the Sage cried out in frustration. "You've got to be kidding me!" When Naruto shook his head, Jiraiya face-palmed. "Just tell me, what animal contract was it and how many people signed it?"

"Ferrets, and just one person signed it. I took it off him after I killed him," Naruto said with a shrug. "Why is this such a big deal anyway?" Truth be told, Naruto couldn't care less for the summoning contract to ferrets. As far as he was concerned, they were stupid, good for nothing tube-shaped rats anyway. Besides, it put him in Rei's good books and that couldn't hurt, could it? "If it were a summoning contract to something cool, like wolves or hawks, I'd keep it for myself."

Jiraiya let out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders slumped and shaking his head repeatedly. "Why did I pick this idiot to be my student?" he whined out loud, to which Naruto bristled with indignation. "Look, Naruto, summoning contracts vary in rarity and value but if you find one and there's an off chance you don't want to sign it or don't know what to do with it, just _keep it_ for yourself! If not for the additional summons, do it for the cash. Unless you're swimming in ryō bills, I'd sell the contract or donate it to Konoha. You'd probably get some compensation for it if you did that, and it would look great on your record. And believe me when I say, if you want to be a somebody in our line of work, you had better have an impressive record."

Naruto was starting to regret his act of altruism. "So the ferret contract, do you think it would've been worth a lot of money if I kept it for myself?" Naruto asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"You bet," Jiraiya confirmed his fears. "Ferrets may be small but they're fast and make great messengers and spies. And if it was signed by only one person, phew! You could've made some big bucks of it, kiddo. Remember that the next time you happen to stumble on a summoning contract or anything else that looks like it might be of significant value. Looking out for comrades is fine and all, but unless they can return the favour, don't be handing them jutsu when you sure as could use if yourself, and if not, the money."

For the next five minutes Naruto repeated slapped his forehead, muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" over and over like a mantra. Oh, how he had come to regret his decision to let Rei have the summoning contract. He could've used that money to pay his rent and buy some more equipment, maybe buy himself some other niceties like another cloak or trench coat similar to the one white one he was wearing now. **(1) **Jiraiya had pretty much forced him to buy one on their way out of Konoha because of the chilly weather, and so Naruto forked out 4000 ryō **(2)** for a white, short-sleeved trench coat and a beige cloak. Naruto had also been forced to put away his flak jacket and headband to avoid suspicion and now wore a navy blue turtle neck.

"Don't sweat it too much, kid, at least you've now learned a valuable lesson," Jiraiya told him. "Let's speed it up, we're almost at Otafaku Gai. It's not as big as Tanzaku Gai but it's got a significant amount of casinos, so the old lady might be there."

Naruto sweat-dropped. "You know, there's something seriously wrong with powerful shinobi. All the strong ones I've met have some weird fetish or habit. I mean, you, Kakashi-sensei and the old man are perverts. Orochimaru has some weird obsession with snakes and Sasuke and this old lady Tsunade is a gambling addict. Then there was Zabuza and Haku. Zabuza was completely insane and Haku was a cross-dresser. And don't even get me started on Gaara, that guy is hands down the most disturbing person I've met. He almost makes Orochimaru look normal."

"We all have to cope somehow," Jiraiya shrugged indifferently. "Some just don't cope as well as others and they go a little crazy. As for me... Like many others in our profession, I cope with drinking and getting laid."

Naruto was taken aback by his blunt response. "Well… Watch it, you're getting old too, you know. You don't want to break your hip or something," Naruto chuckled awkwardly. He wasn't too big on the topic of sex, especially not with someone as old as Jiraiya.

"I write too, you know." Jiraya once again shrugged. "And maybe you should try getting laid sometime, it's good for getting the edge off. I mean, if you go to the ANBU showers, they're usually-"

"Right," Naruto interrupted before he learned some things he could never unlearn again. "I'm just going to go ahead and forget you said that to me, a thirteen year old who isn't even allowed to legally drink yet."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Suit yourself."

-ooo-

(Days Later: Otafaku Gai)

"Well looks like that was another dead end," Naruto stated.

They were on the outskirts of Otafaku Gai, heading into the direction of Tanzaku Gai, which Naruto hoped to be able to explore properly this time around. If there was one positive thing about this mission, aside from the fact he got to spend time with Jiraiya, learn new things and get A-ranked mission pay for it (man, he had it good!), it was that Naruto got to do a lot of sightseeing, something he hadn't been able to do previously on scout rotations even though that usually took him all over the country.

Jiraiya was holding a map of Hi no Kuni and a pen. "Yep," the Sannin crossed of Otafaku Gai as he had done with seven other cities Tsunade had been sighted at. "My informants weren't wrong though. She was here, that completely wrecked bar was definitely her handiwork. She's probably headed to Tanzaku Gai, so we'll need to make sure to step on it before we miss her there too."

Naruto groaned. "I'm definitely going to apply for a summoning contract when we get back," he said to the older shinobi. "Being able to fly from destination to destination beats the hell out of walking all the time."

"I'd run it by Gamabunta first," Jiraiya advised him with a serious expression. Even the legendary Jiraiya walked on egg shells around the Toad Chief. It was rather hilarious in one sense and downright frightening in another. "You don't want to upset the toads, Naruto. They're one of the few summoning kin that don't divide in clans amongst themselves. If you piss off the toads, you piss off _all_ the toads and that is _never_ good."

Naruto was perplexed. "Hold on, summons have their own clans?"

"Of course they do," Jiraiya replied as though it was the most logical thing in the world. "We have clans don't we? We have different countries and villages, what makes you think summons are any different?" It was a solid point he was making. "Summons aren't that different from us, Naruto. We use them to fight, but they can use to help them too. Not too long ago there was a war amongst hawks that even got the toads involved, so Gamabunta took me to them to settle this dispute."

"Gamabunta did that?"

"Of course he did, I'm the Toad Sage, Naruto," Jiraiya reminded him.

Naruto still wasn't too sure on what that meant as Jiraiya had often been referred to by the title but it was never explained to him. "Whatever that means," Naruto commented under his breath.

Jiraiya heard him. "It's part of my responsibility as Toad Sage to be involved in matters like that. Don't worry though," Jiraiya grinned in a way that made Naruto uncomfortable, "One day soon I'll explain everything to you, my dear student, because when the time is right you will replace me and take over all of my duties, allowing me to finally return to the wonderful life of excessive drinking and copious amounts of sex."

"Hey! I never agreed to that!"

"Should've read the fine print in the summoning scroll you signed, gaki!"

Naruto did not realise this was a joke. "_What_ fine print?"

…

It was a few hours later and they were still travelling on foot. They had caught up with a flock of travellers on the road, and one of them who recognised Jiraiya humbly requested they escort them to their destination. Coincidentally, they were also on their way to Tanzaku Gai. "Can't thank you enough!" said the gray-haired flock leader for the umpteenth time. "These parts have been getting more and more dangerous over the last few months. Rōnin and all kinds of scum now dwell these parts," the merchant sighed with a despondent shake of his head. "Konoha-nin once kept these roads safe but ever since the invasion, it seems they've had it tougher than we thought. The post guards that protected these roads were pulled away and the government hasn't responded to our calls for help."

Jiraiya took a swing from the complementary sake bottle they offered in return for their services. "Bad times are coming for all of us," the Toad Sage told him. "This may sound cruel, but Konoha serves as a military branch for our country shinobi first and foremost. When it comes down to it, we're dedicated to more serious, pressing matters than securing roads. That is something the civilian authorities should be taking care of, not the shinobi."

"Of course, you're right," the merchant agreed with the despondent expression still on his face.

"You should continue lobbying for safe passage on these roads, though," Jiraiya advised, taking another swing from the bottle. "Merchants make up a great deal of our economy, I believe."

"That we do!" said the merchant, and with that he begged off as Jiraiya and Naruto dropped back further in the pack.

"I thought we were supposed to hurry up and find this old lady friend of yours," Naruto spoke at a tone so low only Jiraiya could hear him. He wasn't trying to be heartless but he couldn't rid his mind of the image of Sarutobi on his deathbed. "We need to find her before it's too late, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya's expression was ambiguous for a moment. "Just keep practicing on water balloons, kid. Let me worry about the old man back home," the Sage smiled reassuringly, though Naruto wasn't certain who Jiraiya was assuring. "You're getting pretty good at popping those."

Naruto frowned at Jiraiya, he still hadn't figured out what the point was of the exercise. "What's that exercise for anyway? I keep asking you but you always give me some cryptic bullshit, and you're damn right I'm getting good at popping those," Naruto added, retrieving a water balloon from his coat pocket and holding it up to Jiraiya. "Just watch."

Naruto channelled chakra through the orb and within seconds it burst open. "See?"

"You're right," Jiraiya agreed. "It's almost child's play for you now, isn't it?" Naruto nodded, prompting the sage to reach into his sleeve-less red jacket pocket and withdraw a rubber ball, which he threw to Naruto in a bow. "Here, play with that. Second part of the exercise. The goal is the same but you'll have to use a different method to make it pop."

Naruto groaned. "You've got to be kidding me, right?" Jiraiya merely shook his head and Naruto looked down to the rubber ball in his hand. "Alright, this shouldn't take me too long."

"That's the spirit," Jiraiya said approvingly.

"This better be worth it," Naruto warned, frowning as he found it frustratingly impossible to channel his chakra into rubber ball. "Or I'm going to be pissed at you, big time."

"Oh, believe you me, it's well worth the trouble, kid. Well worth it." Jiraiya nodded a few times to make his point come across.

They continued to travel with the flock of merchants for a while, albeit Naruto at a slower pace as he had to focus all of his efforts on destroying the rubber ball.

-ooo-

(Hours Later)

"Looks like they're stopping for a break," Jiraiya observed. "That's fine by me. I could go for something to eat. How about you?" The sage turned around only to realise Naruto was nowhere to be seen. "Naruto?"

Jiraiya looked around and called out the blonde's name, getting a few stares and glances from the travellers but he heard no reply from his student. "You've got to be kidding me…"

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

'Maybe I should just try and channel as much chakra as the damn thing can handle... No, that doesn't sound like a bright idea,' Naruto shook his head and decided to take a break and stowed the rubber ball into his pocket. "Hey Jiraiya-"

As Naruto looked up he noticed with shock neither Jiraiya or any of the other travelers were around. "What the fuck?" Naruto opened and closed his eyes a few times and looked around.

He soon deducted he must have wandered off or fallen behind whilst focusing all of his attention on completing the second stage of the exercise Jiraiya had set him. "Damn it," Naruto swore. This was pretty damn embarrassing, even for him. And what was even worse, he had no idea where the hell he was or where Jiraiya was for that matter.

"You've got to be kidding," Naruto muttered as he set off into the direction he believed to be right. "How did I even get lost, man this is embarrassing!"

Naruto wandered out aimlessly for a while before he lost his cool and punched a tree. "Fuck me! COME ON." He shouted so loudly a few birds nearby took to the skies in fear. Naruto took a few deep breaths and went over his options.

He considered summoning Gamahiro for some help but decided against as it would've made him look like an idiot. Creating a legion of Shadow Clones to find Jiraiya seemed just as reckless and would probably attract unwanted attention if any. Finally, with a sigh of defeat, Naruto decided to just to keep walking until he either found or was found by Jiraiya.

Walking on his own gave him some time to think on matters he usually didn't ponder on or didn't want to ponder on. Naturally, the Hokage was first and foremost on his mind, followed by the short ceremony in which he and Shikamaru were inducted as true, seasoned members of the Nijū Shōtai and lastly about the summoning scroll he gave away, an action he regretted but an eye opener on his carelessness, something he was determined to work on.

Naruto also thought about his old team and peers; he wondered what they were doing, whether they had changed much over the past few weeks. He hadn't seen Sakura since before he embarked on the mission to Tanzaku Gai. Strangely enough though, he missed Shikamaru more than her or Sasuke. It was as if he had outgrown the bonds he once had with Team 7. It was rather disheartening in some ways but strangely empowering at the same time.

Naruto chuckled, thinking of all the times he had competed with Sasuke for Sakura's affections and Kakashi's approval (though he always knew Sasuke had both from day one). Then Naruto remembered the words he had said to the last of the Uchiha the day after his promotion.

_"I'll see you at the top."_

And for a moment Naruto wondered what 'the top' meant, leaving him to wonder out loud, "I wonder what that bastard's up to."

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

In a dark cavern several hundred miles from Hi no Kuni's capital, there were nine spectral figures standing in a circle, all of them with their hands in the ram hand seal. These nine spectral figures were mere representations of their original bodies. Flickering, rainbow-coloured silhouettes as they stood in silence.

_"All of you are here…,"_ said a cold voice, calculative and measured voice of the silhouette situated somewhat higher than the others. _"Good, then this meeting can finally begin."_

_"About fucking time, don't you think, Deidara?"_ said another spectral figure with a pointed glance at another on the side of the ring. _"We had to wait three fucking hours for you two shitheads!"_

_"It's not my fault Sasori no Dana is so slow, un!"_ Deidara responded, to which Sasori did not even bother to reply.

_"You two are always fucking late-"_

_"Be quiet Hidan,"_ ordered the figure next to Hidan. He was by far the tallest of the group and his deep voice had a tone of menace to it.

Hidan made a scoffing noise. _"Fuck you, Kakuzu, you bastard. Once we're done with this meeting, I'll fucking kill you!"_

_"Enough of this nonsense!"_ spoke the voice from before. _"We have important matters to discuss. Will you be able to keep your silence until it is over, Hidan?"_ The cold, calculative and measured voice had a threatening edge to it and Hidan fell silent immediately.

_"Yes, Leader-sama," _he replied after a pregnant pause, attempting to ignore Deidara's obnoxious sniggering.

Pein paused for a moment until the cavern fell entirely still and then he spoke in his cold, calculative and measured voice. _"Konoha has begun to notice our operations in Hi no Kuni, according to Sasori's spy network. I trust this information to be accurate. That is why from now on we must make sure we are particularly careful when we are in Hi no Kuni. In the past we had been able to rely on the secrecy of the shinobi villages to keep their dealings with us hidden. Unfortunately that time has come to an end. They know of our presence… We no longer have the luxury of moving freely."_

_"Tche! So, this means we'll have to slow down our plans. That's going to cost us more, Leader-sama," _Kakuzu replied with clear irritation in his voice at the thought of spending unnecessary funds. _"You appointed me as the treasurer, so I believe I should inform you our funds are running low after building the bases in Shimo no Kuni and Cha no Kuni. Then there's the blockade on Cha no Kuni, it's costing us more than predicted."_

_"I am well aware, Kakuzu," _Pein replied. _"That is why I had Zetsu track down several high bounties and mission contracts. We will leave the jinchūriki be for the time being. We are in no position to challenge the Great Five for the time being."_

_"What?"_ Deidara burst out. _"We're so close to snatching the Yonbi and you're going to make us back off now?"_

_"Is that going to be a problem?"_ Pein challenged.

Deidara growled and reluctantly backed down. _"No, Leader-sama."_

Pein nodded and cast a panning gaze over the eight other spectral figures, resting his purple and ripple patterned eyes on spectral figures: one was nearly as tall as Kakuzu and carried a large weapon on his back and the other's eyes were set in the fully matured Uchiha sight. _"Itachi, Kisame… You will need to back off from the Kyūbi for the time being. This goes for all of you, the bijū will be collected at a later date, is that understood?"_

_"Yes, Leader-sama,"_ replied the shorter of the two, two which his tall companion nodded.

Pein then shifted his gaze back to the tallest of the nine. _"Kakuzu, have your men dissolve the blockade on Cha no Kuni. The surrounding nations are becoming restless and are rallying together in fear. Mizu's Daimyō, related to Cha no Kuni's royal house by blood has now promised a navy to be upon their shores by the end of this week. It has become abundantly clear this entire operation is more troublesome than it is profitable."_

_"Where shall I move the fleet?" _

_"That is up to your discretion," _Pein answered. Then shifting his gaze to the oddest shaped of silhouettes, Pein said, _"Zetsu, any news of Orochimaru? It is imperative that we retrieve the ring he took with him."_

_"He's quite difficult to track, Leader-sama,"_ Zetsu reported. _**"The last time we saw him, we managed to deal some damage but he got away," **_added a second voice, emanating from the same source. _"Will you have us try again, Leader-sama? We are quite confident we will not fail this time." _White-Zetsu's counterpart sniggered ominously. _**"One of our spies in his camp has reported he is on his way to recruit his former teammate, Tsunade of Sannin. Clearly our latest encounter with him has put him on edge and he's trying to make as many allies as he can."**_

This piece of information had its clear effect on the others, even the ever-so composed Sasori and Itachi. _"If she joins him, it will be far more difficult to take out the snake," _Sasori said in a smooth voice, as calculative as Pein's. _"Even at her age and years of inactivity she can prove to be a troublesome opponent."_

_"That old lady? I heard she hasn't fought in nearly ten years, how can you still fear her, Sasori?"_ goaded Kisame. Even in the poorly lit cavern his shark teeth gleamed visibly in relish, causing Sasori to bristle. _"If you want, Itachi and I can retrieve the ring, Leader-sama. We are in Hi no Kuni right now, it shouldn't take us too long to find them."_

_"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Kisame,"_ Pein acknowledged, _"But you are highly unwise in underestimating the Tsunade of Sannin. We shall find another way to retrieve the ring, time is still on our side. Until then, keep yourselves occupied with your new assignments. Zetsu will come see all of you individually."_

_"Yes, Leader-sama."_

_"Understood._

_"Got it, un!"_

Pein's spectral form nodded. _"Now then, this meeting is adjourned."_

_Bzzzzyt!_

With that the spectral form of Leader disappeared and the others followed suit.

-ooo-

(With Naruto)

A shrill scream in the distance alerted the blond as he snapped out of his thoughtful daze and immediately looked to the direction where the sound had come from. 'I better check that out,' Naruto decided and he took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch with haste.

The scream had sounded feminine and Naruto remembered, with a cold feeling in his gut, rōnin and all kinds of scum had been wandering around these parts. He didn't want to think of what could happen if a woman decided to travel here on her own. With that disturbing thought on his mind, Naruto sped up and as he had expected, stumbled upon a revolting sight: a woman, kicking and screaming, was pinned down to the floor by several men, one of whom was tying her hands together as another tore at her clothes.

Naruto launched a kunai with a swiping motion of his hand and the projectile lodged into the rope-tying bandit's skull, killing him instantly.

His comrades were startled and slow; Naruto would've taken them out in their moment of confusion had it not been for their bowman, who was clearly the most competent as he shot an arrow at Naruto on reflex. Naruto jumped from tree to tree to get a good fix, but the bowman was incredibly fast and accurate.

Then, Naruto appeared to be struck, he fell backwards out of the branch clutching his shoulder as though he was injured, but in reality it had been a feint as he substituted himself with a fallen branch nearby. Naruto appeared behind a brush, going through a string of hand seals which ended in the serpent a split second before he slammed both hands on the ground beneath his feet. "Doton: Doryū Taiga!"

The earth beneath his feet instantly grew moist and rose as it formed into a mudslide wave directed at the bowman, whose loss of balance made him fire his next arrow unintentionally, which ended up lodged into another rōnin's throat, who slumped down a tree as he gagged and gurgled shortly as the bowman drowned in the mud. There were only a handful of rōnin left and Naruto redirected his Earth Flow River to tackle them to ground, suffocating them with a suffocating coat of inescapable mud.

With grim satisfaction he rose to his full height. He had to give it to the old man, this jutsu was definitely worth the trouble to learn even though it took quite a bit longer than the rest of the jutsu Naruto had recently acquired.

Shifting his gaze to the rōnin's would-be victim, he saw her crying silently and sobbing hysterically. "Are you alright?" Naruto asked with a gentle tone. Fortunately for her, he had saved her from an horrible experience but now he had no inclination on how to deal with the situation. "Hey, lady…"

Finally she spoke through her sobbing and weeping. "G- go a- away, pl- please. T- thank you for he- helping me b- but pl- please just- just leave me be..."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Naruto almost immediately chastised himself mentally for his done as a look of fear struck the woman. "Look, you're clearly injured and it's not safe here for you," he quickly elaborated. "Why don't you just come with me? I have friends with me in this forest… though I seem to have lost them at the moment."

Naruto unhooked his canteen from his utility belt and knelt down by the woman, noticing her tense up immediately as he did so. "Here, drink some water. I'd offer you some food but I don't have anything other than rationing bars on me."

Naruto allowed her to empty his canteen whilst he fished out some rationing bars; one was dried meat and the other more of a high-energy granola bar. She took them anyway, and attacked both at the same time, I was as if she hadn't had any sustenance in days. "So, do you want to tell me what happened here?"

He made eye contact with the woman and suddenly felt like he shouldn't have as he saw her dark blue pupils widen in shock on battered and bruised face. "You're a boy?" she asked as though she had expected a different answer when Naruto nodded. "Oh."

"Right, well you seem pretty banged up so I'll have to carry you. Is that going to be a problem?" Naruto felt like a bastard for thinking it, but this lady was starting to become a pain in the ass. He didn't exactly regret saving her, no he would've that a million times over, but it was his stupid need to save people that was getting him sidetracked. Why was that, he so often tried to figure out. No one sure as hell tried save him, aside from the Hokage, and everyone else who came to be his friend did so only after months and months of Naruto trying to gain their friendship. Those endeavours usually ended up in him getting hurt with little to no acknowledgement at all. No, Naruto would have to go through extreme lengths to gain the respect of those around him.

And then Naruto stopped thinking altogether.

Though only for a moment.

'When did I start to think like that?' Naruto was now fully aware of the nature of his thoughts. 'One mission with Jiraiya and I'm starting to regret everything I've done for the people around me. Man, that guy must be a cynic at heart.' Naruto blinked a couple times, he realised he must've been scaring the lady with his silence.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Naruto nodded reassuringly. "Yeah, just let me take care of something real quick." Naruto rose to his feet and formed a Kage Bunshin. "Go collect those weapons, they might be worth something," he instructed out loud for the benefit of the woman, who seemed understandably terrified. Jiraiya had made a good point before, thus Naruto saw no reason why he should leave perfectly good weapons lying about when he could use sell them and make a profit off them. "Don't be afraid, it's just a stupid clone," Naruto told her; his clone jerked and shot him an evil look but didn't respond for the sake of the woman.

"Shina."

"That's your name?" Naruto asked to which she nodded. "That's a nice name, Shina-chan. My name is Naruto, do you want to tell me what happened here?"

"I- I don't want to talk about it," Shina replied, her voice noticeably steadier. "Can we go to your friends now, or wherever it is you want to take me? I just want to get out of… here." She cast a glance to the muddy corpses of rōnin that had tried to rape her. "Please?"

Naruto nodded as his clone walked over to him with a sealing scroll and dispelled itself once Naruto put it away. "Hop on," Naruto crouched in front of the woman and waited patiently as she hesitantly climbed on his back. "You're heavier than you look," he lied.

Shina made a shrill sound of indignation. "Th- That's a rude thing to say! It's poor upbringing to say things like that about a lady, you know."

"I'm an orphan, sue me," Naruto shot back as he started to walk into the direction he felt was right.

"Well I..."

As they walked, Naruto had a faint smile on his face. Getting her worked up would distract her from thinking of what had nearly been done to her. "Seriously, you weigh like a ton of bricks!"

"H- Hey!"

-ooo-

(Hours Later)

Shina had fallen asleep by the time Naruto had managed to track down Jiraiya and the travelling flock. "Thanks for walking out on me!" Naruto shouted from the distance as he approached, understandably getting some strange and questioning glances with Shina on his back.

Jiraiya waited for him to come closer and then bonked him lightly on the head. "You're an idiot. I take my eyes of you for one second and I lose you for a good three hours. You seriously need to work on your tracking skills, it couldn't have taken you this long to find us. We even left trails."

"In case you haven't noticed, I got sidetracked thanks to this one," Naruto jerked his head in the direction of Shina. "She would've been, well you know, if it weren't for me." He wasn't too comfortable thinking of what would've happened either. Then again, he was only thirteen.

"Well, we're glad to have you back, Uzumaki-san," said the merchant from before as he walked over to them. "We're stopping here for the day, so you can leave your friend with my wife. She'll clean her up and feed her properly."

Shina had woken up to that and clutched Naruto tightly, digging her fingers in his arms. "Ouch!" Naruto hissed in pain. "Relax, Shina, these are good people. You can trust them, and if it helps, I'll have a clone with you the entire way, alright?"

She finally relented and allowed her to be guided away by the merchant and Naruto's clone.

"So what's her story?" Jiraiya asked, settling down by a tree as the travellers pulled their beasts of burden and carriages aside from the road and began setting up tents and fires to prepare their meals. "Rōnin, huh?"

Naruto gave a simple nod. "I heard her scream, so I went to check it out and then I found them. They weren't a problem though. It was just difficult to get her to come with me." Naruto plopped down next to the sage and retrieved his last rationing bar and tore it open.

"If you're wondering whether you're an idiot for saving her, you're not," Jiraiya told him. "We're shinobi, true, but that doesn't mean we can't help people. I've been in your situation before and odds are we'll both be in similar situations in the future, so don't beat yourself up about it."

Naruto nodded and stretched out his arms, leaning against tree he sat under and closing his eyes. "I'm gonna get some sleep in."

"No, you're not," Jiraiya told him, presenting him with another rubber ball. "Get in the practice you lost out on while you went on your little endeavour."

Naruto groaned and took the rubber ball of him with a begrudging, "Fine."

He practiced for a few hours into the night, long after Jiraiya and the rest had gone to sleep, before he too finally succumbed to fatigue and nodded off.

-ooo-

(The Next Day)

"Looks like we're here!" shouted the merchant over his shoulder as the city's gates came into view. They had long since required protection on the roads as they had left the perilous roads through the forest hours ago, but Jiraiya had decided they would stick with them for a while longer nonetheless.

"We can't thank you enough, Jiraiya-sama," said one of the travellers.

"And you too, of course, Uzumaki-san," added another.

Others began to join in and Naruto rubbed the back of his head, greatly enjoying the multitude of thanks. "It's no big deal," he told them, although he wouldn't have minded if they kept thanking him. It was nice to be needed, and even better to be thanked for it.

"Naruto-kun, I can't thank you enough," Shina said as she walked up to him and drew him into a hug. She quickly withdrew herself, and though she was a few years older than him, she sported a red tinge on her cheeks, flustered and perhaps a little embarrassed even by her act. "Really, I can't thank you enough."

Naruto merely smiled and nodded, quite unsure of what to say. "Don't mention it," he told her, "Take care of yourself, Shina."

"Alright, we've got to get going. Take care, people!" Jiraiya placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and guided him into another direction.

Once they passed the town gates, Jiraiya held up a hand in farewell as they took off in a different direction. "Alright, we'll be going now. Take care." The travellers shouted some final goodbyes

…

"Ero-sennin, do you really think your old lady friend is going to be here?" Naruto asked as they walked down familiar roads he had walked nearly two weeks ago. "This must be the sixth place we've tried, right? I'm starting to get worried about the old man."

"You and me both, kid," Jiraiya looked at him and patted him on the back. "I'm not sure if she's going to be here, but I'm sure hoping she is. Anyway, it looks like we're going to have to find a place to wait for a couple of hours," Jiraiya said, looking to bright afternoon sky.

"Why's that?" Naruto questioned.

"It's too early," Jiraiya answered. "There's no way Tsunade's going to be up and about. Not at this hour, we'll have to wait till dark if we're going to get a chance at seeing her. In the meanwhile though, I'm going to take a soak in the local onsen."

Naruto furrowed his brows in a disappointed stare. "You're off to perv on random women while we're supposed to be on a mission? C'mon, Ero-sennin, this is low even for you!" The blond exhaled exasperatedly. When was this guy going to give his libido a rest?

"Look, kid, I've been a lot more missions than you have, alright? I know how to spend my time, so don't go lecturing me," Jiraiya said with clear annoyance; Naruto couldn't argue with him there since it was true. "Why don't you come with me? You could use a soak, and if it makes you happy, why don't you do that exercise I showed you in the water?"

That did sound pretty good, Naruto had to admit. He couldn't remember the last time he visited an onsen – oh wait, yes he could and it wasn't exactly great either. Learning how to water walk on boiling hot water was a damn good way to keep motivated though, Naruto had to credit Ebisu for that.

Finally he gave in. "Alright, I'll come to your stupid onsen but don't try to drag me in to your game of Peeping Tom. I'm not interested in that kind of stuff."

"What, you're not into women?" Jiraiya goaded.

"Fuck you," Naruto shot back. "Let's get going already, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya made an indignant noise. "When will you stop calling me that, kid? You're cramping my style."

"_What_ style, Erojiji?"

"Damn it!"

-ooo-

(Hi no Kuni – Tanzaku Gai Outskirts)

In the countryside of Hi no Kuni on the far of Tanzaku Gai three cloaked men in matching grey cloaks and conical straw hats stood on a hilltop overlooking the city of sin in the distance. On the right was a bespectacled white-haired adolescent man; he wore his hair in a pony tail and had an air of smug confidence and intelligence about him.

"We are nearly there, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto stated, looking to the man on his left, withdrawing a hand from his cloak to push up his old fashioned spectacles. "Tsunade of the Sannin… She was sighted here not too long ago."

Orochimaru did not answer and merely flicked his tongue hungrily. How many years had it been since he last saw her? Orochimaru remembered the day well, it was not so long after her younger brother, Nawaki, had met his early end on the battlefield.

In a way, Orochimaru mused, he and Tsunade very much alike for she, too, was proven to be a prodigy unlike any other, even amongst the elitist. Skilled and competent, as such was expected of the Shodai's granddaughter. Orochimaru once held fond memories of her, after all, she had saved his life many times on the battlefield. There was perhaps even a time he would've seen her as a suitable partner.

Yet, that fondness came to an end one day, as Orochimaru realised such petty attachments were mere distractions, obstacles on his path to greatness. To become the _Ultimate Being_, to fully immerse in the years of scientific research, he knew he would have to cut out his own heart and feed it to the monstrous creature that was his obsession, his insanity, the twisted darkness that resided inside him since birth, festering for years, ever since he had been made an orphan by war.

"I'm looking forward to see if she's as fine people say she is!" sniggered the cloaked figure behind the two, his hands stowed underneath his cloak. "I heard her tits are the size of mountains!"

The serpent summoner repressed the urge to kill him where he stood. He was too competent of an asset to be disposed of so carelessly, especially in these times when so many wanted his head and so few would prefer it to remain on his shoulders.

"Sasaki, be silent," ordered Kabuto, predictably irked by their companion's vulgar mannerisms. "When we go to see her, you best keep your mouth shut or I will shut it for you. Do I make myself clear, Sasaki-kun?"

Sasaki chuckled provocatively. "Sure, sure, sure! No problem, Kabuto-_senpai_."

"Enough," Orochimaru ordered and they immediately fell silent.

The three cloaked men began to descend from the hilltop.

-ooo-

(With Jiraiya & Naruto)

Naruto pulled the towel of his head and threw it on top of the heap of used towels in the corner of locker room. "Man, that hit the spot!" He had to admit taking a soak in the onsen had been a lot more enjoyable than he thought it would've been. Jiraiya's perversion was lost on him as he soaked for a few hours, giving his body a well deserved break for the first time since his promotion and making some progress with popping the rubber ball. So far he had only gotten it to expand in size, but according to Jiraiya he was 'thinking along the right lines.' Perhaps if he applied finer chakra control and channelled the chakra to whilst applying greater output…

Naruto closed his locker and shoved his sealing scroll in his pouch, having opted to wear brown cargo shorts and a green t-shirt with complementary disposable slippers from the bathhouse rather than wear his shinobi attire and coat as it was too hot. Instead Naruto sealed all of his equipment in his sealing scroll, which he stowed in the pouch now clipped to his lower back.

"See, that wasn't so bad." Jiraiya dried his hair with a towel in one hand and helped himself to a glass of an exotic looking beverage completely with a wedge of pineapple and a tiny parasol. Naruto had found it rather feminine of him, yet he had to admit it looked rather tasty. Still, he decided against drinking even though he was positive Jiraiya would let him. "Hold this kiddo," Jiraiya passed him the drink and then shot him a warning look, "Get your own if you want one."

Naruto's expression faltered, he had hoped to steal a sip or two but instead watch Jiraiya tend to his vanity as the sage ran a hand through his spiky white hair and cupped his chin in thought. "Shorter it is," Jiraiya decided and he made the ram hand seal. Instantly Naruto could see his hair decrease in length and increase in density, giving it a more rugged, gravity defying look. "What do you think?"

Truth be told, if Naruto hadn't known any better, he would've thought Jiraiya could pass for someone in his thirties. The man had an incredibly youthfulness about him and aside from the several scars he had here and on his torso, accumulated from forty years worth of experience as a shinobi, his skin was practically flawless and judging from his chiselled physique, he took great care of his body. Still, Naruto wasn't about to admit that, that would just be weird.

"You're a little girl on the inside," Naruto said without missing a beat. "Still, that is an awesome jutsu. Could you teach it to me?"

Jiraiya gave him a curious look. "Apologise first."

"Fine, I'm sorry for hurting your feelings," Naruto apologised with absolutely zero repentance in his voice. "_You little girl_," he added under his breath.

Jiraiya beckoned him and took his drink back as Naruto stood before the mirror, taking a sip and slapping the blond in the back of the head. "I heard that," he informed. "Maybe another time. It's not as easy as I make it look. Here, get me a refill," Jiraiya handed Naruto the glass, empty aside from the ice cubes as the sage at his pineapple wedge. "I'll get dressed."

Naruto swore a string of profanities on his way out and returned minutes later to find Jiraiya dressed in his usual matching green kimono robe over a fishnet shirt, shinobi trousers, wooden getas and sleeveless red kabuki jacket. Like Naruto, the sage had stowed away his cloak. "Gimme that," Jiraiya took the refill from Naruto and downed in three large gulps, closing his eyes and pulling a relishing expression as the alcoholic beverage went down his throat. "You're going to love this stuff when you're older, kiddo," Jiraiya told him, placing the empty glass on a nearby table and leading them outside.

The chūnin shrugged and followed. "Yeah, like I haven't got enough problems that want to make me drown my sorrows with alcohol," Naruto commented on their way out. "So, we're gonna look for Tsunade now or are we gonna have a good time with those geishas over there before that?" he asked sarcastically.

Jiraiya laughed and continued to lead the way. "I've got a better idea, how about we go get a few drinks instead?"

"Oh, come on! I was being sarcastic," Naruto complained. You seriously couldn't give the old pervert a window like that, could you? "Can we just get to looking for Tsunade? It's nearly been two weeks now, Jiraiya. It's not like we've got time to be-"

"Relax! We'll probably run into her in one of these bars," Jiraiya explained. "If there is one person that can drink me under the table, it's Tsunade." Jiraiya patted his stomach. "I can go for some food, what about you kid?"

Naruto was about to protest when his stomach grumbled. "Sure, but you're buying," Naruto said. "I'm running low on cash as it is and you still made me buy that stupid cloak and coat. I've hardly got money left to stock up on sealing paper, ink, some new gloves and sandals and kunai. I've been using the Kage Bunshin variation of projectiles for a while now but it's taxing on chakra – and before you say anything, it never hurts to conserve your chakra, right?"

Jiraiya agreed rather easily. "Sure, why not? I've got some extra sealing paper if you want," he patted the large scroll on his back, "I don't just carry this around as an icebreaker for the ladies, kiddo."

"That's right, you're pretty damn good with fūinjutsu aren't you, Ero-sennin?" Naruto remembered. He had completely forgot about that. "Hey, can you give me some pointers on creating seals? I'm trying to create my own to save up on money."

"Maybe some other time," Jiraiya replied, patting him on the shoulder. "You still have some ways to go with that jutsu I've been trying to teach you. I'm not teaching you anything else until you've got that one down, understood?"

"Jutsu?" Naruto repeated. Then it dawned on him, these exercises were just simply for his chakra control.

Noticing his slip up, Jiraiya didn't bother to deny it and started laughing. "It took you long enough to notice."

A new jutsu, huh? Naruto's repertoire in that department had improved by leaps and bounds since his promotion, but it never hurt to another ace in the hole. Now that he knew he was actually learning a jutsu and not some vague chakra exercise, Naruto felt a lot more motivated to get it down. "So what kind of jutsu are we talking about, Ero-sennin?"

"You _seriously_ need to stop calling me that," Jiraiya looked over his two shoulders to the attractive geishas laughing at the mentioning of his nickname. "You're cramping my-"

"Just get to the point, Erojiji!" Naruto demanded with fluster. "Come on, what about this jutsu you're trying to teach me? What's it called? What's it do? Is it bad ass? It's gotta be pretty awesome, right? Right?"

Jiraiya sighed with a dramatic downcast expression. "Can't this wait till after we've had something to eat?"

"No!"

Jiraiya smiled wryly, "I guess not, huh? Follow me."

Naruto frowned with confusion and followed Jiraiya into an alleyway and the sage held out his right in front of Naruto, drawing his attention immediately. "The exercises I've been showing you are in fact the two stages you have to complete to learn this jutsu."

Naruto's eyes lit up with amazement as chakra began to swirl in Jiraiya's hand. "You're spinning your chakra!"

"Stage one was designed for your to learn how to spin your chakra," Jiraiya furrowed his brows as a sphere began to form in his hand, "And stage two… that's meant for you to learn how to form into a self-sustaining sphere."

Naruto's jaw nearly dropped as perfect sphere formed in Jiraiya's hand, spinning rapidly and making a screeching hum that was rather pleasant to listen to. "What _is_ that?" Naruto didn't even notice he was whispering by now.

"This, Naruto," said Jiraiya was a devilish grin, "Is the Rasengan."

And then the sphere dispelled in an instant. "What do you think, kiddo?"

"That's amazing! So _that's_ how you do it?" Naruto reached into is cargo shorts pocket and retrieved the rubber ball. "Now that I've seen it, I think I can-"

"No!" Jiraiya said quickly, looking around, "We're in a pretty densely populated area, Naruto. If you screw it up, it's not just you that can get hurt, you know?"

"You mean those people out there?"

"No, I'm talking about me, idiot," Jiraiya deadpanned. "Come on, I'm hungry. Let's go."

The sage didn't wait for an answer and walked out of the alley and turned into the first inn he saw.

Naruto followed suit with an annoyed expression, he had to get down that exercise soon. "If you're paying, can't we at least go to a restaurant?"

Jiraiya stood still for a moment and Naruto bumped into. "No… I think we picked just the right spot," Jiraiya looked over his shoulder and pointed into the direction of two women in the corner, sitting by themselves and enjoying a drink.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of them, particularly the pigtailed blonde in a grass green gambler's jacket over a sleeveless grey kimono-styled blouse held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matched her pants. She looked like the women on adult magazine covers with her blouse revealing sizeable cleavage, accentuated by the emerald necklace she wore around her neck and her full lips coloured pink with lipstick. Aside from the 'Gamble' kanji on her back, another notable feature about her was the diamond tattoo on her forehead.

"_Damn!_" was all Naruto could say and Jiraiya chuckled.

"She's my age you know," Jiraiya reminded him with a chuckle, taking great pleasure in seeing the look of shock amd repulsion in Naruto's face. "That's right, gaki, you were just having impure thoughts over my fifty-something year old teammate."

Naruto felt sick to his stomach, suddenly feeling absolutely _zero_ attraction to the buxom blond. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?" Naruto accused with a glare at Jiraiya. The Toad Sage merely shook his head and laughed. "You're telling me _that_ was your teammate?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin as he always did when in thought. "Believe it or not, she was as flat as a ryō coin back in the day. She didn't get to look like that until she was in her twenties." Jiraiya smiled, clearly a fond memory coming to him. "Let's go say hello."

Naruto followed the sage as they walked over to the table where Tsunade sat next to her dark-haired companion, a woman modestly dressed in a dark coloured kimono hugging a piglet to her chest. 'That's an odd choice for a pet,' Naruto thought as they came to a stop in front of the two.

Tsunade's companion was visibly and audibly surprised as Jiraiya stood before them, casting a glance at Naruto briefly and then turning her eyes back to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sama," she greeted friendlily, albeit somewhat nervously. "What are you doing here? Look, Tsunade-sama, it's your old friend-"

Tsunade audibly exhaled with annoyance and looked up, her light brown eyes shone with disdain. "What do you want, Jiraiya?"

"It's been a while… Tsunade."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

Yep, and that's another one done and dusted. Still no beta as of yet (though I've gotten quite a few offers, thanks), so I had to actually clean up my own mess. It's fine, it's good practice.

I actually had to split this chapter in two because it was so damn long and y'all tend to forget to **review** (Why won't you love me?) after a long chapter, and me being the review whore I am, can't have that. So as a general rule I'll be _trying_ to keep the chapters around 10K words length and no longer, and if it is, I'll split up the chapters in two. Also another policy I'll stick to from now on is weekly updates. Unless I get a decent amount of reviews for the chapter in the first few days, you guys will have to wait till the week is up. I'm not gonna be setting a specific amount of reviews because that would just be weird, so if you're reading this, please make sure to review each chap as you go. It's helluva motivation and it makes me feel giddy.

In regards to the chapter: here's hoping I pulled off a believable Akatsuki meeting. The new guy on Orochimaru's crew is an OC that will play an significant part in this story, credit for his (last)name goes to Kojiro-kun who submitted a character with the same name for my other story. Shina, the girl Naruto saved, is a plot bunny I'm working on for the future of this story. Literally everything that happened in this chapter was there out of necessity, so zero filler. Who else is proud of me? Come on, I'm needy like that!

**Notes**

(1) A picture of what Naruto looks like with the trench coat will be put on my profile shortly.

(2) 4000 ryō equals to 400 dollars/pounds/euros, for anyone that's interested.

…

**Jutsu Used:**

(Jutsu: Doton: Doryū Taiga – Earth Flow River) – B rank, offensive, short to mid range. After forming the needed hand seals, the user transforms the ground underneath their opponent into a river of mud that throws them off balance and away from the user.


	6. Chapter 6: The Rasengan Challenge

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 03-12-11_

_Updated: 30-12-13_

_**I'm back with another instalment of Potential Realised. My apologies for the long wait – my excuse is included in this chapter's Author's Note: I've been busy as all hell so cut me some slack people.**_ _**A forewarning, the editing of this chapter has been rather limited – I will go back over it again sometime soon to tidy up, so there's no need to point out the mistakes!**_

_**Oh, and don't forget to leave me a review, people. It's been a while I really could use some feedback.**_

_**Spell check by goku90504**_

* * *

><p>CH6: The Rasengan Challenge<p>

* * *

><p>"It's been a while… Tsunade."<p>

"What do you want, Jiraiya?"

The legendary kunoichi turned her attention back to her drink and didn't even look at them as she helped herself to a saucer refill of vintage sake. Several heads were turning by now as many of the inn's patrons recognized the two legendary shinobi that made up two-thirds of the Densetsu no Sannin. "Whatever it is, be quick about it. I'm in no mood to deal with you right now."

Naruto whistled, looking to Jiraiya, half expecting him to look offended or give an angry retort. It turned out, however, that Jiraiya was used to Tsunade's cold shoulder treatment and he sat down next to Tsunade's aid, who quickly moved to sit next to her teacher as Naruto also sat down in the booth.

"How long's it been since we last spoke, Tsunade?" Jiraiya tried to break the ice with a friendly smile, reaching for the sake bottle on the desk.

Tsunade did not reciprocate the sentiment. "Not long enough," she responded sourly, pulling the bottle out of his reach. "Who's the kid staring at my chest, Jiraiya? Another one of your protégés just waiting to die young?"

"H- Hey! I wasn't looking at your- what do you mean, _another_ protégé?" Naruto gave a curious look to Jiraiya, whose expression had turned stony and apprehensive. "What is she talking about, Ero-sennin?" Now that he was thinking about it, it made sense Jiraiya had taught others whether it was as a jōnin instructor or as a master over an apprentice, he was a shinobi of legendary renown after, of course others beside himself must've sought him out for training. It also reminded him of the sneering and the disapproval of the old man's advisors, clearly they had thought Jiraya could have done better in picking an apprentice.

Tsunade burst out laughing, snorting in a rather obnoxious fashion. Her laugh sounded more like an unpleasant cackle to Naruto. I was irritating. "_Ero-sennin?_ At least this one has a sense of humour, Jiraiya."

"How about we change the subject?" Jiraiya offered with a sudden serious expression that surprised Naruto, it was rather uncharacteristic of his teacher.

He hadn't thought Jiraiya to be able to get worked up about anything other than women and booze. What old wound was this woman picking at? "Ero- _Jiraiya-sensei_," Naruto quickly rectified, not wanting to further embarrass the sage in front of his old acquaintance. Jiraiya gave him a curious look, but said nothing whilst Tsunade merely snorted derisively in clear disapproval. "Do you want me to get you a drink while the two of you… talk?"

"Now, there's a good student!" Tsunade praised mockingly with a raise of her saucer, to which Jiraiya chuckled as he gave Naruto a nod, prompting the youth to get up and head over to the bar counter. "Why did you bring him?" Tsunade asked whilst Naruto stood in line with other patrons. Her voice had turned even icier, now completely devoid of laughter or snark. "Are you trying to mess with me, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya noted the steely edge to her tone. "No," he answered calmly. "Does it bother you he's here?"

Tsunade paused for a moment and then turned to her aide: "Shizune, take the brat for a walk." Shizune obeyed without a word and got up and walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. They left the establishment moments later and Tsunade leaned over to Jiraiya, who tried not to let his eyes wander over the view she was giving him. "Why don't you both save us some time and headache and cut to the chase, Jiraiya? We've been playing this stupid game for years and quite frankly I'm sick and tired of playing it." Tsunade snorted once more. It was a rather unattractive habit, a stark contrast to her unrivalled beauty. "You spent weeks tracking me down, you find me, we talk, we have _sex_, you beg me to come back to Konoha the next morning and when you get my answer, which still is and always will be _no,_ you leave. Honestly, if you were this persistent when we were younger you might have actually scored with me a lot sooner." **(1)**

Jiraiya chuckled and after a moment so did Tsunade. "Those were some good times," Jiraiya said after long pause. "I was pretty pathetic back then, wasn't I?" Tsunade made out a sound, as if to say, 'You have no idea.' "We did have fun though, didn't we?"

"We did…" Tsunade admitted quietly with a softer tone.

"Where did it all go wrong?" Jiraiya dramatically asked rhetorically, in attempt to amuse her.

To his dread, Tsunade answered. "I lost the love of my life and my little brother, we lost Orochimaru to his obsession and you… you lost me."

Jiraiya was thankful she smiled. He wasn't too sure how he would've responded if she wasn't. "That I did," Jiraiya slid the sake bottle to himself and poured him a saucer, which he raised to Tsunade. "To good old times."

"However long ago they may have been," Tsunade clinked her saucer with his as they both drank. The legendary kunoichi downed her saucer in one, as did Jiraiya, and closed her eyes at the pugnant taste. "So… why are you here?"

-ooo-

(Outside)

Naruto peered into the inn, standing by the door. "It looks like they're laughing, that's a good sign, right, Shizune-neesan?" Naruto looked back to Shizune with a hopeful expression. He quite liked the brunette, even though they had just recently met, she was incredibly friendly. "You think she'll agree to come with us."

Shizune bit her lip and gave him an uncertain shrug of the shoulders. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but that's just a ritual of theirs," she replied, and noticing his puzzled expression she elaborated: "Every now and then when Jiraiya comes to visit he tries to convince her to come home. At first… they used to fight it out, those usually ended in Jiraiya losing…" Naruto had an incredulous look on his face but Shizune smiled reassuringly. "Oh, I am quite certain Jiraiya-sama let her win those fights, Naruto-kun. But as the years went by, instead of fighting, Jiraiya-sama challenged her to drinking games with the terms of her returning if he won and him leaving if he lost."

"So he's never won at drinking games, not even once?" Shizune nodded and Naruto remembered Jiraiya's words from earlier: _"If there is one person that can drink me under the table, it's Tsunade." _Naruto felt an odd feeling settling in his stomach as he slowly came to realise the trouble Jiraiya went through, the trouble was _still _going through his entire life.

Naruto experienced a clarity he had never felt before and he knew, he truly _knew_ he now understood Jiraiya. The similarities between them were numerous, they were exactly alike: the same side of the same coin. Even now when Jiraiya was a fully grown man, deep down there still was this insecure young man Naruto could relate to. Both were overlooked for another by their sensei, scorned by the woman they loved since their youth, and always, _always _the need, the desperate undying _need_ to please, to be acknowledged, to never let those precious to them down festering in their gut. **(2)**

In some ways it made Naruto happy he was exactly like his sensei, that he now understood what the sage had seen in the scruffy, diamond in the rough, young man he was. On the other hand, Naruto felt both pity at anger for himself as much as Jiraiya. "We're idiots, aren't we?" Naruto said out loud.

Shizune was flabbergasted and undecided on how to respond to that, thus she opted not to respond at all.

"Shizune-neesan…" Naruto spoke after a long moment of silence. "Ero- _Jiraiya_… he's been in love with her his whole life, hasn't he?"

Shizune's expression was unreadable for a moment, but then she smiled and nodded her head. "You're quite perceptive," Shizune observed though it sounded like a compliment. Naruto would've disagreed but she continued and said, "It is true Jiraiya-sama has been in love with Tsunade-sama for many years now."

"Why won't she give him a chance?" Naruto asked, it was almost a snarl, a demand, as though he felt Tsunade had personally wronged him by not returning Jiraiya's affections. Was this the path he might have gone down with Sakura if he hadn't been promoted? Would he have spent the rest of his life like Jiraiya had, promiscuous and on the borderline of alcoholism, just to get over 'the one that got away'? 'No!' Naruto nearly voiced his thoughts.

Shizune gave him a sad smile. "I wish I could tell you, but it's not my place to say, Naruto-kun."

Naruto tightened his fists. "I'm going back in there," he decided.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Naruto-kun," Shizune told him, grabbing his by his elbow.

"Why not?" Naruto demanded, tugging back his arm and noting Shizune's firm grip despite her slender stature. "What could possibly happen-?"

_CRASH!_

Naruto fell to the ground, swept by a sudden explosion. He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked to the source of the crashing sound, realising it had been a result of Jiraiya crashing through the inn's wall.

From the guard Jiraiya still held up, he could tell the damage had largely been avoided. "You still pack a punch as ever, Tsunade-hime!" For some inexplicable reason, Jiraiya was still grinning as Tsunade exited through the newly created hole in the inn's wall. Judging from her expression alone, Naruto could tell she was absolutely _livid_.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto ran over to Jiraiya and took a defence stance in front of him. "What did you do to piss off that old hag?"

Immediately, Naruto noticed the colour drain from Jiraiya's face and a split second later the sage had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and jumped high into the air as Tsunade brought down her fist on the ground, levelling the road. Chunks of earth split upwards from the sheer impact and Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Th- Thanks!" Naruto was painfully aware he stuttered, but then, anyone would be if they had narrowly escaped death. "What the fuck is up with that monstrous strength, Jiraiya?" He was so alarmed he even dropped the nickname he usually reserved for his teacher.

Stuck to the side of a building, Jiraiya moved Naruto to his side so he could support himself against the building with chakra under his soles and hands. "I told you she was strong, didn't I?"

"The hell you did! Not this strong!"

Jiraiya put on a serious expression. "I'm going to talk to her, you stay here."

His pride still damaged, Naruto outright refused immediately. "I'm not running away from this old bitch!" Naruto went through a string of hand seals and ignored Jiraiya's shout.

"NO!"

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" Naruto's chest expanded significantly and like a dragon he breathed a stream fire, aiming it to bare down on Tsunade. He was confident she would back off now, but was in for a shocking surprise as Tsunade disappeared with a seal-less Shunshin and appeared between the master and student, grabbing Naruto by his the back of his head and rocketing him into the ground face first.

_BOOM!_

"That should put him out," Tsunade ruled with a mere glance at dust cloud billowing from the crater she had just created. "Now, what do I do about you?" She turned to Jiraiya with a murderous glare; both of them were stuck sideways to the building across the severely damaged inn. "You can't just stay the hell away from me, can you, _Jiraiya_?" She spat his name with venom.

Jiraiya glanced away briefly to check on Naruto, but the dust obstructed his view. "I thought the ladies like persistence."

Tsunade was not amused. "We don't!" And with that she aimed a fist for her old teammate, only to come to a sudden halt as Jiraiya grinned for an inexplicable reason. Tsunade looked down and found her body swept over by suffocating mud, racing vertically over the building to immobilise her. What she found even more surprising was that the young man she thought she had taken out was responsible for it.

With blood running down the side of his face, Naruto was crouched on the ground, fingers deep in the earth as he directed his Doryū Taiga to capture Tsunade. "That ought to keep you in your place."

"Cute," Tsunade commented dryly. "But hardly effective!"

With a merely flex of her muscles the mud flew off her and she was upon the younger blond in an instance, touching down on the ground, mere inches away.

Naruto jumped back immediately, back flipping through the air and landed in a sloppy crouch as now more and more civilians were rushing about outside. Most, if not all of them, were rooting for Tsunade, who must've been a regular visitor to Tanzaku Gai. From their perspective, Naruto was just an idiot who went looking for trouble and found it.

'I need to be careful I don't accidentally kill any of these people,' Naruto thought with frustration. 'Too bad I don't have a close range technique to deal with her- wait a minute!' A grin came to him as a plan formulated in his mind so quick, he had to remember to pat himself on the shoulder.

Tsunade cracked her fist with a sadistic expression. "So you seriously want to fight me, huh, brat?" Tsunade sneered. "It's too late to back down now. Don't blame me if you die!"

"Well, too bad for you, hag!" Naruto took a fighting stance, rearing back his right hand and holding up his left arm in a high guard. "Because, I'm not gonna die any time soon. I'm going to be Hokage someday, so don't feel embarrassed when I beat you!"

The look of shock that struck across the Tsunade's face went unnoticed by Naruto as he pushed his palms forward, directing the attack not her, but on the ground in front of her. "Fūton: Reppūshō!"

A massive dust cloud rose from the earth and Naruto could hear Jiraiya's laugh nearby. Tsunade looked around in the dust cloud, still under mild shock but fuming her clothes had gotten dirty.

"There you are!" she shouted at a silhouette, ramming her fist in the youth's face.

_Poof!_

"What the-" Before she could finish her sentence Tsunade was struck by two simultaneous high kicks, however, she smirked as the caught both in her hands using crossed-arm block. "You're going to have to better than that!"

"I doubt it!" shouted Naruto's disembodied voice as suddenly a pair of hands gripped Tsunade by the ankles and pulled her knee-deep down into the ground. Tsunade's eyes widened as the dust cloud spiralled towards the source of a vaguely familiar screeching sound.

"_The Rasengan?_" Tsunade whispered in a hiss as more clones jumped on her to hold her still as Naruto supported a pathetically erratically shaking and volatile-looking orb of chakra in one hand.

Naruto rushed forward rearing back in arm as he ran the last ten feet.

"JIRAIYA, YOU FOOL!" Tsunade bellowed and with extraordinary strength exclusive to her alone, she threw off the clones and coated her hand in chakra just as Naruto came in striking distance.

_BOOM!_

-ooo-

Jiraiya rushed over immediately as the last of the smoke cleared and found Naruto on the ground with a shocked expression and he looked upwards to Tsunade with an expression mixed between shock and fear.

"You fool!" Tsunade bellowed angrily, the chakra coat dissolving over her hand and she immediately turned to Jiraiya, her livid expression at full flare. "You fool!" she shouted again.

Naruto got to his feet and took a few steps back, highly apprehensive and confused what had just happened. He had managed to perform the Rasengan, hadn't he? If so, then why was she so livid? Naruto opened his mouth but Tsunade shot him a dangerous expression and Naruto looked to Jiraiya for an answer.

"I don't want to hear a word from you, brat!" Tsunade barked fiercely at Naruto. Then turning to Jiraiya she grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him close, and growled aggressively. _By_ _far_, Naruto reckoned, she was the more intimidating out of the two despite the fact Jiraiya was significantly taller and muscular than she was.

"What were you thinking trying to teach him a jutsu like that?" Tsunade's grip tightened on the sage's jacket. "That kid was lucky I noticed the imbalance when I did or you'd be scraping him off the walls, Jiraiya! When will you learn to be more responsible? How many students do you need to lose-"

Jiraiya's hand shot up in a sudden motion and grabbed Tsunade's by the wrist, pulling her grip away from his jacket. "Relax," Jiraiya told her with a calm voice. "Why are you getting so worked up, Tsunade? You nearly killed him yourself."

"That was to teach him a lesson!" Tsunade swung her hand back and turned around to Naruto, who instantly straightened up as he caught her glare. "You, brat, if I were you, I would give up on that jutsu. A kid like you won't be able to complete it."

The fight in Naruto hadn't let him yet and returned the glare defiantly. "A kid like me?" Naruto challenged. "What's that supposed to mean, you old hag?"

A vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead and she looked like she was about to pummel Naruto to death but fortunately she kept her cool. "I mean a reckless fool like you, who has no regard whatsoever to his own life! Do you have any idea how many years the Yondaime worked on that jutsu before he completed it? How long it took Jiraiya to master it?"

"_The Yondaime?_" Naruto repeated with shocked expression that matched his tone.

"You didn't know?" For a moment it looked like she was even more ticked off, but the shocked expression on Naruto's face amused her. She let out a shrill laugh. "That's right, that jutsu, the Rasengan, was created by none other than Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage!"

Naruto looked away from Tsunade and his gaze moving to Jiraiya instead. No words were necessary, the sage merely nodded with a solemn but otherwise unreadable expression.

"Namikaze was a genius amongst geniuses, and Jiraiya over there, though he might not be as smart, is an S-ranked shinobi. Do you seriously think you can master a jutsu they struggled with for so long?" Tsunade snorted. "Don't fool yourself, brat. You're a thousand years too young to be even trying!"

Naruto tightened his fists and looked Tsunade in the eye and said with defying determination, "So what?"

"So what?" she repeated.

"So what if the Yondaime created this jutsu? So what if it took him years to do it? And _so fucking what_ if Jiraiya had a hard time with it?" Naruto challenged in a loud voice. "I'm going to surpass both of them. I'll become the strongest Hokage Konoha's ever seen! I'll become the greatest shinobi to have ever lived! You can count on that!"

For reasons unknown to Naruto, Tsunade and Jiraiya immediately shared looks. What Naruto had just said, wasn't said by very often, and moreover, the last person either of them had heard say it with such intensity was none other than their old comrade, Orochimaru…

"Ero-sennin," Naruto called to Jiraiya and the sage looked at him, "How long did it take you to learn the Rasengan?"

Jiraiya cast a quick glance at Tsunade and then said, "Three months."

"I've had less than two weeks so far," Naruto said to Tsunade. "How about we have a little bet, you're a gambler, right?"

"_Not a very good one,_" interjected Shizune from the sidelines, though she went unheard.

"That's right," Tsunade confirmed with an intrigued nod.

Naruto grinned as he always did when faced with a challenge. "Then how about this, if I can master the Rasengan in one week, you'll come quietly and return with us to Konoha to heal Hiruzen-jiichan. If I lose, which I won't, but in the case I lose, Jiraiya and I leave and _neither_ of us will _ever_ bother you again."

"Naruto!"

"I'll take that bet," Tsunade announced, much to Jiraiya's dismay. "And I tell you what, I'll sweeten the pot with this." Tsunade took of her necklace from which an emerald stone hang.

"I don't want your shitty jewellery, lady!" Naruto said immediately.

Having said that, it had a comical result as Jiraiya face-planted, Tsunade twitched and Shizune's jaw dropped. "_Naruto!_" Jiraiya whispered in hiss from the sidelines, prompting Naruto to give him a confused look. "_That necklace belonged to the Shodai Hokage!_ _It's worth more three mountains worth of land!"_

Now Naruto was the one whose jaw dropped. "Alright, I'll take that too, then! I've got rent to pay, damn it!"

"You have one week," Tsunade held up a finger.

"You're on, granny!"

Tsunade twitched, if it had been a different situation she would've broken his jaw by now. "Shizune, we're leaving."

"Tsunade-sama!"

The two walked off, leaving Jiraiya and Naruto their own devices and once they got out of sight Jiraiya slapped Naruto in the back of the head. "You idiot!"

"What, you don't think I can pull it off?" Naruto held his head in mild pain.

"No, that I think is actually a pretty solid bet," said Jiraiya but he quickly silenced Naruto who looked he was about make a cocky remark. "You're an idiot for trying to pull off the Rasengan without completing it. If it hadn't been for Tsunade, I _really_ would be scraping you off the walls, kid."

Naruto glared at him, not particularly happy with his skills being put in doubt. "You didn't seem too ticked off when I did it!"

"Of course not, not in front of her!" Jiraiya grabbed Naruto by the shoulders; the younger shinobi only now began to understand how angry Jiraiya was at him. Or perhaps the word he was looking for was concerned, as Jiraiya's eyes reflected pain that seemed out of place. What was the sage think about? "That's not the kind of jutsu you test in the field, brat. The Rasengan is a spinning orb of grinding chakra, what the hell do you think would happen if someone used one as instable and volatile as yours?"

Naruto clenched his fists tightly but he had to admit Jiraiya was right. "You're right," Naruto admitted in quiet tone, "It was stupid of me to try it."

"Don't give me that look," Jiraiya said after moment as they began to walk into a direction of their own. "For not even completing the second stage properly, that was pretty damn good attempt. I'm surprised it didn't explode in your face."

"You think so?" Naruto's expression lit up. "For real?"

Jiraiya nodded but quickly added, "Don't let that go to your head though. You've got stage one down, but you've still got some ways to go with the second before you get to the third."

"Third?" Naruto repeated. "I thought you said there were only two!"

"What? I said what the first and second stages were, _and then _I _showed_ you what the result would be of combining what you learned from those two stages – that's the third stage of mastering the Rasengan. How did you not get that?"

Naruto was red in the face with embarrassment. "Shut up!"

-ooo-

On a nearby rooftop a lone cloaked figure looked down upon Tsunade and Shizune as they left. Then shifting his gaze to Jiraiya and Naruto, the figure's hand, stowed under his cloak, clenched, groping onto something as Sasaki smiled ferociously. "These Sannin are incredible. If they are anything like Orochimaru, this should make for some interesting developments." The wind kicked up nearby cast Sasaki's coat aside, giving full view of four swords, two on each hip, intricately designed in wave patterns of gold and black steel with shapes of silver arachnids. Another two hands under Sasaki's folded arms reached out and drew his cloak to a close and Sasaki sniggered to no one in particular as his eyes zoned in on Uzumaki Naruto.

"Interesting."

-ooo-

(The Next Day)

In a clearing several miles into Tanzaku Gai's outskirts, an hour or so travelling from their lodgings, Naruto and Jiraiya were training by a river, or more accurately, Naruto was training whilst Jiraiya was tending to his libido. It was late in the afternoon but the sun would be up for a few more hours; the weather wasn't too bad either. It was little over six and the weather was rather chilly, though not so much it distracted from his training. Not as much as Jiraiya's undignified giggling did anyway.

"It's in the middle of the day, at _broad daylight_ and you're reading one of those perverted magazines." Naruto threw the rubber ball in his hand at Jiraiya with an irritated expression, which only increased as Jiraiya caught the ball with ease without even looking up from the adult literature.

"I'm serious, come on, why don't you try to help properly like a normal sensei would?"

"Don't wanna."

Naruto deftly caught the rubber ball aimed for his face and took a wide stance, exhaling a deep breath and closing his eyes as he concentrated on channelling his chakra into the object. Step one was relatively easy by now, simply spinning the chakra was not a problem. Step two was another case though: it didn't have much to do with spinning, it had more to do with using denser chakra to break the rubber ball, as though to expand the chakra. Naruto suspected they were using balls in the first place because the Rasengan was a spherical product of combining step one and two and by destroying the water balloons and rubbers balls without touching them, thus the only logical explanation was that the physics of it all made it form into an sphere on its own. The reason why Naruto's earlier attempted had failed _aside_ from his lack in control of his chakra density, was because he was trying to force a principle of physics without the need to, in other words, his forcing the chakra into a sphere was not only an exercise in futility, it was highly dangerous because it made his orb of chakra prone to losing rotation and exploding – and who would've though a harmless looking thing like the Rasengan could be that volatile?

"You look like you just figured it out," Jiraiya observed, looking up from his magazine with mild curiosity.

Naruto nodded, confident in his epiphany. "Yeah, I think I've got it-"

"_You think?_" Jiraiya lowered his magazine, a steely expression in his eyes. "There's no 'I think' in our world, Naruto. Either you _know_ you're right, or you _don't._ You know what happens to those who _think_ they know something in our line of work?" Naruto gave no encouragement but Jiraiya answered anyway. "They die, Naruto. They die early on in the game and it's never pretty."

"Alright, alright!" Naruto replied agitatedly. It seemed as though Jiraiya would only offer his insight when he felt like it, and not when Naruto asked for it. It was a pain in the ass but he knew why the sage was so intent on making Naruto struggle on his own: so that he could learn from his mistakes. "I know, I know, OK? Are you happy now?"

Jiraiya gave him one of his rare serious frowns. "It's not about making me happy, brat. It's about you taking this lesson to heart, I didn't survive this long on luck, you know? Neither did Hiruzen-sensei."

"Right." Naruto didn't have much else for a reply and nodded to Jiraiya and held up the rubber ball again. "I _know_ what I did wrong and I know how to fix it."

"Good," Jiraiya said looking to the sun and getting to his feet and rolling up his magazine. "You go work on that."

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya walked off.

"Research!"

Naruto swore under his breath, glaring daggers at Jiraiya's back.

-ooo-

(Tanzaku Gai)

In a wide alley behind one of Tanzaku Gai's many liquor establishments stood Tsunade and Shizune. The former's eyes were fixated on the three cloaked men in front of her, one of whom was none other than Orochimaru.

"How many years has it been, Tsunade?" Orochimaru's smile was either forced or naturally disturbing. His bespectacled associate gave an unusual respectful nod to Tsunade, though it went unnoticed. The other associate merely smiled and by the looks of his eyes he wasn't looking at her face.

"So what they say is true," Sasaki wolf whistled. "You are a pretty one aren't you?"

And then, with the slightest of movements, just as an Orochimaru's brows furrowed in anger, Tsunade glower and a wave of pure, terrifying killer intent washed over the three. Orochimaru was far too seasoned and on par with the legendary kunoichi, his only reaction was a shift in his steps and noticeable apprehension. His silver-haired associate broke out in a bead of sweat and took a step back whilst Sasaki instinctively jumped back a significant distance, clearly about to unsheathe his blades.

"We are not here to fight!" Orochimaru reminded his swordsman in a clearly agitated hiss. His voice took a softer tone as he looked back to his former teammate with a disarming smile. "We are just here to talk, Tsunade."

"Not long enough." Orochimaru gave her a confused look. "You asked how long it had been," said Tsunade. "The answer is not long enough."

"Perhaps your attitude will change once you hear me out, Tsunade," Orochimaru replied. "I have a proposition for you."

Tsunade unfolded her arms and cracked her fists. "Yeah, you and Jiraiya both!" The look of mild shock on Orochimaru's face did not deter her as Tsunade began to approach them. Kabuto took a stance, flinging aside his cloak and activating chakra scalpels; Shizune pulled her sleeve and aimed her wrist mounted senbon launcher. "I heard what you did to sensei," Tsunade stated as though she was telling time. "Usually I wouldn't give a damn about what you did, you'd be too much of an effort to track down, and let's be honest, I don't care that much for the old man. Still though," she cracked her knuckles again, and this time more menacingly, "I can't in good conscience let your ass go un-kicked whilst you're within my reach."

Orochimaru took a good look around him and instantly realised the enclosed area they were in was the perfect battlefield for Tsunade. Even if they outnumbered her, all it took to be down and out for the count was _one_ punch, for his associates anyway. "Hear me out, at least. I came here with an offer; why not listen to it before you make your decision?"

"I'm not interested in what you've got to say, Orochimaru," Tsunade said with a detached coldness.

Orochimaru glared at her, clearly frustrated with her narrow-mindedness. "I can bring them back, Tsunade."

That seemed to do the trick, as Tsunade stopped dead in her tracks. "What did you just say?"

"Nawaki… Dan…" Orochimaru said in a whisper. "I can bring them both back… to you, Tsunade. After years of research, I have mastered _that_ jutsu. I can bring them back from the dead, _both _of them. Nawaki and Dan can live once again if you hear me out!"

From the sidelines an unnerved Shizune had gotten over her apprehension and made to interject: "Tsunade-sama-"

Tsunade held up a hand. "Quiet, Shizune!" she barked with a glance over her shoulder. Then looking back to Orochimaru she gave the smallest of inclinations of the head. "What are you talking about?"

Orochimaru smiled in a knowing and conceited manner. "Join me and I will grant you your most desired wish. You can have them both back, your beloved younger brother _and_ your lover. All you need to do is join my cause."

Tsunade dug her fingers into the palms of her hands as her fists shook. "You mean to say you can bring back the dead? You better not be playing games with me, _Orochimaru!_" She spat his name as though it was corrosive venom.

"It does not matter how," Orochimaru sneered, his serpentine features standing out in the darkened alley. "All that matters is your answer. I need you by my side, Tsunade."

"Why?" she demanded.

Orochimaru threw up his hands theatrically with a dark cackle. "_Unsurprisingly_... I have many enemies. Who better than you to have my back? You saved my life on the battlefield many times before and you will do so again, if you want to see _them_ again, that is..."

"Tsu- Tsunade-sama-"

Tsunade immediately silenced her immediately. "SHIZUNE, BE QUIET!"

Orochimaru flicked his freakishly long, saliva-dripping tongue at Shizune, who looked unnerved, and then looked back to Tsunade. "So, what do you say?"

"I… I will have to think about," Tsunade said after a long moment of silence. "When do you need my answer?"

"Preferably today," Orochimaru said almost immediately.

Tsunade picked up on it instantly. "You weren't kidding. You must have some dangerous enemies if you're this pressed for time…"

"You have three days, Tsunade. We will meet in the outskirts of the city. Come if you wish to see your loved ones again…" Orochimaru turned his back on Tsunade and walked away, his associates close on his tail.

After a long moment of silence, Shizune spoke up timidly, "Are you going to take him up on his offer, Tsunade-sama?"

"I… don't know, Shizune." She gave a heavy sigh. "I need a drink."

-ooo-

(Two Days Later: Night time)

Jiraiya brushed aside the high curtains as he walked into a tiny drinking establishment many blocks away from the bar they had found Tsunade. As expected, he found Tsunade slumped on a stool, leaning backwards as she took another shot of what he expected to be strong liquor.

Jiraiya ordered a drink, pointing to Tsunade as he did so and sat down next to her. "I'll have what she's having." With a drink in his hand, Jiraiya finally turned to look at Tsunade whose expression was unnaturally blank. "Where's your cute little assistant?"

"I sent her away, her whining was getting to me."

"What's with the long face, Tsunade? It doesn't suit you?" Jiraiya sniffed the drink in his hand and downed the shot glass in one, closing his eyes as the bitter tasting beverage went down his throat. "I need some lemons with these..."

Tsunade sighed tiredly, a rare expression of vulnerability on her face. "Jiraiya... do you know why I look this way?"

"To preserve the beauty you had in your youth?" the sage shrugged in ignorance.

"_'To preserve my beauty...'_ - bah! How vain do you think I am?" The bartender came by to refill their drinks and as he left Tsunade's ire became more visible as she sat up in the poorly lit establishment, gone was her look of vulnerability, yet it somehow still remained present in her body language. "Have you ever woken up and found an old man looking back at you in the mirror? Did it take you a few minutes before you finally realised that is was your own reflection? I hate being old, Jiraiya. I hate it more than anything."

Jiraiya for his part didn't seem to be phased by what she said, snacking from the bowls of peanuts on the counter. It was as if he was completely uninterested and indifferent to what she was saying. "Of course I have," he said after a while and Tsunade gave him look he could not quite decipher. "The only difference between you and me, Tsunade, I keep seeing my reflection every day and I'm fine with it. I guess I don't pity myself the way you do." Despite this, Tsunade did not seem to be offended.

"Right... I'm suppose I'm a coward, aren't I, Jiraiya? Not as _gutsy_ as you, I never have been." Tsunade reached over the counter and grabbed a bottle, uncaring to the apprehensive look the bartender was giving them. "Why did you come here, Jiraiya?"

"You know why."

She shook her head so slowly her pigtails didn't even move. "No," she said facing him with a serious look in her eye, "I don't." What few patrons had been left in the bar seemed to be leaving; perhaps it was an omen of bad things to come. "Why did you come? I'm sure you've made some contacts that could've helped out the old man. It wouldn't have cost you much."

"You were never one to take anything at face value," Jiraiya stated with a loft smile, "It's one of the many things I've always liked about you, Tsunade."

For whatever reason, whether it was that last remark or perhaps something else that troubled her, Tsunade spat on the floor next to her. "Orochimaru's back," she said with a monotone voice. "He's come to recruit me."

The stunned expression on Jiraiya went unnoticed as Tsunade looked down to her drink on the counter, not touching it, but simply looking down as though there was something of great interest at the bottom of the shot glass. "What did you tell him?" Jiraiya said after moment of silence, "Did you give him an answer?"

"Why, would you be _jealous_ if I took him up on that offer, Jiraiya? You're such a child," her tone fell cold and derisive. "I've always _hated_ that about you." The tension in the air kicked up; the bartender wisely decided to stick to cleaning his glassware on the farside of the counter whilst Jiraiya's expression turned into a stony one.

"No, but I suppose I would have to kill you if you did... Tsunade-hime." Letting that sink in for a moment, Jiraiya looked away again, raising his glass to his lips, yet he did not take a sip. Undoubtedly his mind was elsewhere, thinking of the implications of Orochimaru's arrival and resenting the timing of it all. "He's a traitor, Tsunade. He betrayed Konoha, he betrayed you, sensei-"

"And you, right?" Tsunade interjected sharply. "After all, you considered him to be your best friend. A pity he didn't feel the way, huh?" she mocked. "Maybe-"

Jiraiya looked at her again, now with intensity in his eyes. "No," he said firmly and answered her questioning look, "No 'maybies'. Orochimaru is no longer my comrade, Tsunade, don't play your games with me. I won't hesitate to kill him, and neither will he to kill me."

"Tche!" Tsunade glared at him momentarily but said nothing further.

"Since we're scratching open up old wounds," Jiraiya said, "Did Orochimaru happen to offer you a way to be reunited with them? With Dan and Na-"

"Don't say his name!" Tsunade barked loudly, her voice resounding in the near empty establishment. "How did you know?" she demanded after a while.

Jiraiya met her golden eyes and saw a glimer of pain; instantly he felt a shame greater than he would've thought. "I've been tracking Orochimaru for years, ever since he defected – you know that. It's given me some insight as to how he recruites his people. What you don't know is that he's begun falling in your great uncle's footsteps. I don't know how he did, the Senju were thought to all have died in the war or simply disappeared, but some way... somehow... he got his hands on _that_ jutsu."

Tsunade's eyes widened considerably. She made a choking noise as the severe implications dawned up on her like a tidal wave. "The Edo Tensei?" she whispered as though she could not believe what she had just heard. "But... I thought sensei destroyed all the documents! He promised me the day..." Abruptly and as quick as it happened, her outburst died in her throat.

The look Jiraiya gave her was laced with understanding and _pity._ "You tried to get your hands on it too, didn't you?" Her silence urged him to go on. "Nawaki was only twelve years old back then, a wet-behind-the-ears courier ninja. He wanted to fight on the frontline, but you didn't let him, so he signed on to be a courier ninja behind your back and on the very first mission he was sent on-"

"Stop..."

"-he died in a horrible explosion. It was a boobytrap, and a pretty good one at that. A rookie genin wouldn't have been able to spot it," Jiraiya continued onwards, feeling as though she had to be reminded, feeling as though this was the only way to change her mind. "I had never seen you cry so hard before, Tsunade. It broke my heart."

"Jiraiya, stop it..." Tsunade's voice had taken a pleading tone to it by now, but Jiraiya ignored her.

"That night after Orochimaru came back, after he retrieved Nawaki's body... I never told you this, but I went to the site where it happened." Tsunade turned to him with a stricken expression, her eyes wide and tears welling up. "And what you also don't know is that Orochimaru had tracked Nawaki's killers down. He wanted to let you know where they were so you could have your revenge, he told me how he felt when his parents were killed and then it all made sense to me. I took the information Orochimaru gave me, the location of the squad that had been responsible for Nawaki's death... and I found them._ And then I killed them all._"

Tsunade was at loss for words and Jiraiya continued, having no confidence he could retell this story again. "Something changed in me that day, Tsunade. I had killed them and for the first time in my life, I felt guilt, a terrible, _terrible_ guilt. I fell to my knees and I _cried_. I _cried_ just as hard as you did the night before and I prayed to whomever would listen to forgive me. I had never felt so _sick,_ so _rotten! _I felt as though I had become the devil himself."

Swept in emotions, Jiraiya slammed his fist on the counter. "I killed many before that night and I have killed many since, but I never killed without the _need_ to, without being told to. They were my enemies, true, _and_ they had killed Nawaki, _and_ there was a war going on, _and _yet I _still_ found myself praying for forgiveness."

"Then why did you do it!" Tsunade screamed at him sweeping their drinks and bottle of alcohol of the counter as she got to her feet and the bar stool fell, anger in her voice and tears streaming down his eyes; yet the anger was not directed at him, Jiraiya could tell. _She was angry at herself._

And after a long moment of silence, Jiraiya gave her a response that chilled her to the bone. "So that you wouldn't have to."

"I never asked you to that!"

Jiraiya smiled in a blend of affection and nostalgia, cupping Tsunade's chin; even whilst seated he was tall enough to do so. Strangely enough she did not resist his touch. "Even back then I had seen the hate in Orochimaru, I had finally found out why he was so different from us that night he told me he would've jumped at the chance to kill his parents' killers. I... couldn't stand the thought of you becoming like him, so I went in your stead and I avenged Nawaki on my own and I kept it from you..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Jiraiya scoffed as though her were mocking her. "Why didn't I tell you I avenged your brother before you could do it yourself? No, I was never going to tell you, Tsunade, that was a secret I intended to take with me to my grave." He knew what she was going to say and cut her off before she could speak, "The only reason I am telling you now is because you're about to join the man that betrayed us and attacked our home – _Nawaki's _home! There couldn't be a greater insult to his memory, Tsunade!"

She had offered no response, and in her position, nobody probably would have one. "You know why I brought Naruto with me for this mission, Tsunade? Well, I'll tell you one thing, it sure as hell wasn't to guilt trip you and it sure as hell wasn't because he's Minato's kid," there was clear hesitation as he said the name, as though he had never spoken it before, "When I look at that kid, do you know what I see? I doubt you would, you've been drinking yourself into a stupor for years, but what I see in Naruto is something _great! _I see the future in that kid, I know he is going to change the world someday Tsunade – with or without my help, and I prefer to be a part of it for as long as I can."

Grateful for a change of subject, Tsunade shook her head. "What are you talking about? When I fought him the other day I saw nothing special. He's got guts but it'll take more than that, Jiraiya. His parents were already jōnin at his age."

"I knew you would say that," Jiraiya shook his head with a confident grin. "Naruto's a one in a million kind of person. I've kept a close eye on him, he has a quality about him that I haven't seen since... Well it doesn't matter," Jiraiya quickly amended as the image of a _red-haired, pale-skinned teenager with ripple-patterned eyes_ came to memory. "What matters is that my gut is telling me Naruto's the one, he has to be!"

"Not this again!" Tsunade's outburst came as expected. "Jiraiya, you can't possibly be serious! You've been ranting and raving about this prophecy for years and it's cost you two students already, when will you be satisfied? How many more have to die before you're finally convinced-"

"He's the one!" Jiraiya slammed his palm on the counter and stood out of the bar stool with an unsettling grin on his face. He could've been a cult member from the way he was shaking with exhilaration. "I'm telling you, Tsunade, Naruto is the Child of Prophecy. He's going to change the world!"

"If you say so," Tsunade couldn't help but admire Jiraiya's unwavering faith and conviction in the prophecy foretold to him by the toads. She remembered the days when she, too, was as fanatic about Konoha: a young kunoichi, scion of the noble Senju clan and a patriot at heart, so happy to serve, so willing to fight for country and village like her parents, grandfather and great uncle had done before her. "So what does that have to do with me," she asked eventually.

"Well to tell you the truth, my mission wasn't just to bring you back to Konoha to help the old man, Tsunade." From the look on her face, Jiraiya could tell she wasn't in the least suprised. "They want you to become the Godaime Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade."

Tsunade burst out laughing, spilling her drink as she laughed loudly. "Are you out of your mind, Jiraiya? Why would I even step foot again in that village, let alone become the Hokage? Don't make me laugh!"

"It's not a joke, Tsunade," Jiraiya said smoothly. "

Tsunade shook her head, her honey brown eyes fixated on his. "Why aren't you taking the job, you can't possibly tell me they haven't offered you."

"Oh, they have," Jiraiya said nonchalantly, "They've been trying to get me to take the hat for years now, but we both know I'm not capable of leading a village. I'm a fighter, and I'd like to think I'm a pretty good teacher," a nostalgic smile crept to his face but it quickly disappeared, "But we both know I'd be nothing but a figurehead if I took the job. I wouldn't know the first about being Hokage, but you on the otherhand..."

"No," Tsunade refused flatly. "Not on your life."

"Why not?" Jiraiya asked with genuine curiosity, though he had a pretty good idea why already. Tsunade had a commitment phobia for as long as he had known her, sadly the only one who had gotten her over than was Dan, but after he died Tsunade went back to her old ways. "You'd be a great Hokage, and the first woman to be a Kage at that." **(3)**

"Don't patronise me, Jiraiya. I'm not taking the job."

Jiraiya shrugged and got off the bar stool again and stretched his arms, stifling a yawn. "Well, the offer is on the table depending on how long it'll take us to get back to Konoha and when you'll leave, Tsunade."

"Wait a minute, you actually think I'm going to lose that bet with that kid?"

Jiraiya nodded as though it was the simplest truth in the world. "Oh, you're going to lose alright. I've got no doubts in my mind about that." He headed for the exit and turned around for a moment. "Tsunade... I really hope you don't take up Orochimaru on that offer... It'd be too much trouble to kill the both of you."

With that, Jiraiya left, leaving Tsunade with a stunned expression; she then smiled for a moment and shook her head as she too got up and tossed a golden ryō coin at the barkeep, who caught the golden token with bulging eyes, unable to formulate a proper response as Tsunade pulled on her jacket and left.

"I ran out of regular bills, sorry for your troubles," Tsunade muttered as she left.

"Th- thank you, Tsunade-sama!"

-ooo-

(Early Hours: With Naruto)

In the same clearing he had been for the past few days Naruto held his hand in his wrist and channelled his chakra, surrounded by fallen trees, small creates and shattered rock. "Rasengan!" The result was much stronger than it had been in only a few days ago, in the palm of his hand was a softly screeching, perfectly shaped Rasengan the size of his fist. Naruto reckoned he could make it bigger if he wanted to, but he decided on playing it safe and building his way up to size. All that mattered at the moment was that he got down the principles of the three steps necessary to perform the jutsu.

For a few moments, Naruto played with the Rasengan in his hand, figuring out the best way to thrust the jutsu at someone. 'This jutsu would be even deadlier if I could figure out a way to throw it like a kunai or a shuriken or something like that.' He toyed with the idea for a minute or so before dismissing it as an insane and not to mention impossible notion. 'This jutsu might be self-sustaining once you've done it, but going at it for thirty hours in two days really puts a drain on your reserves.' Naruto cancelled the jutsu and pulled his turtleneck over his head and sat down by a tree, yawning as he nodded off and fell asleep.

-ooo-

(Jiraiy's Suite)

Jiraiya sluggishly stumbled past the door, clutching his heart as he closed his right eye in extreme discomfort, knocking over trinkets off the stand by the door. The Sage swore as loudly as his ragged breathing allowed him and he fell face-first on the ground, clutching his heart with a pained smile on his face. "Damn it... Tsunade..."

(Mid-day: Tanzaku Gai Outskirts)

Orochimaru and his lackeys were already waiting in the clearing by the time Tsunade had gotten there. A brief look around and she knew why he had wanted to meet her out here in the open: surrounded by a thick line of trees the clearing provided to be large enough to perform the technique, yet at the same time provide enough space to get out of the way in case Tsunade changed her mind and decided to go on a rampage. She smiled wryly, supposing no S-ranked shinobi survived that long without always having a contingency plan as she came to a stop halfway in the clearing.

"So you've come, Tsunade!" Orochimaru announced theatrically as he approached her on his own. His grin was so wide it appeared as though his face was about to split with the clear smugness evident in his tone. "Where is your little friend? I had thought she would've wanted to see her uncle return to the land of the living."

Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest, "That's none of your concern, Orochimaru," she said with a no-nonsense tone. "I came here to give you my answer," Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, "But before I do that, I want you to hold your end of the bargain first."

Orochimaru repressed a snarl with visible restraint and looked briefly over his shoulder to his associates: they were standing perfectly still next to another a good twenty feet away. "As you wish, Tsunade," Orochimaru smiled again in his twisted fashion, "I suppose it would only make sense-"

"Get on with it!" Tsunade barked loudly.

This time the smile did not return immediately, as Orochimaru found it difficult to cope with the total and utter lack of respect. Usually those who spoke to him with such respect were either dispatched by Kabuto, his other lieutenants or, depending on the gravity of the insult, himself. However this was not just anyone who was insulting him, Orochimaru fully knew that. Tsunade was one of the few in the world that were in his league... untill he became the Perfect Being.

Tsunade's eyes were locked onto his and Orochimaru twitched as he suppressed another snarl. "Now then, let's begin shall we?" Immediately Orochimaru's lower jaw well down and his body began to grow disproportionately, his entirely body bulging out of his cloak and shinobi robes – and then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped as two bulging figures in Orochimaru's neck travelled down and fell out of his gargantuan mouth, coated with slimy, green mucus.** (4)**

Two corpses laid on the ground between Tsunade and Orochimaru: both were male, one being considerably taller than the other – it was just then Tsunade's eyes widened at the similarities between the corpses and the appearances of her beloved lost ones. Immediately her mind was flooded with past memories she had unsuccessfully attempted to burry deep down in her subconscious through years of abusing alcohol.

_"Hey! I want to be like grandpa someday… I will be honoured with the name Hokage, because being Hokage is my dream." _**(5)**

_"It is because we are living in the shinobi world, where death is always following us, that I… want to put my life on the line to subdue this war-ridden world. I dearly love both the village and my comrades… That is why I want to protect them."_ **(5)**

The storm inside Tsunade raged with a great unrelenting furry, a force she could no longer pretend to be aware of.

"From experience, it is best to use sacrifices that resemble those you intend to summon-" Orochimaru's explanation died in his throat as he saw the rage in Tsunade's eyes, the incredibly fury with which she looked at him.

A bull-like roar escaped Tsunade as she aimed a fist for the ground. "OROCHIMARU!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

Took me a lot longer than I thought it would've to finish up on this chapter. It wasn't so much the planning out of it (this story's been planned out for roughly 30 chapters ahead) but really the actual writing of it. I've had to find time to write in the brief periods I actually felt like it between revising for upcoming exams, class work, course studies, university applications, my birthday (turning 19 is nothing special, people) and so on. Anyway, once I did get to writing it all, it turned out like this. It's certainly not my best and it didn't really turn out the way I intended it to, but hey, it's better than nothing, right?

This chapter is mostly the necessary build up for the next two. There won't be another uneventful chapter like this one for quite some time, if everything goes to plan. I really haven't got anything else to ad here, aside from my confusion with the latest chapters of canon Naruto – Sharingan to Rinnegan? Not in my story it ain't! - so see you guys next time. I should have the next chapter up much, much sooner.

And don't forget to **review**!

**Notes:**

(1) That's right, Tsunade and Jiraiya used to bump uglies, deal with it. I have always thought they had a fascinatingly complex relationship worth delving into. Unfortunately, that didn't happen in canon, which is why I am in this story. Don't worry, it won't play a part in the story but it is a plot bunny I'm going to develop over the course of this fan fiction. JiraiyaXTsunade fans, _WORSHIP ME!_

(2) The similarities between Naruto and Jiraiya are simply out of this world. How Naruto never realised this in canon (if he did, I sure as hell didn't see it), I simply cannot even begin to fathom.

(3) We are never told exactly when Mei Terumi became the Godaime Mizukage, and since there has been no mentioning of other Kages from other villages being female, I'm going to go ahead and assume Tsunade was not only the first female Hokage but also the first female Kage of any of the Great Five Shinobi Villages – of course, that's not to say that other minor villages won't have female leadership, if that ever pops up in this story.

(4) Think of Cell's regurgitation of Android 18 when Gohan punched him in the stomach during the Cell Games saga in Dragonball Z. I figured it'd be a pretty bad ass skill for Orochimaru to have, and it kind of falls in place on its own considering he is frequently shown to swallow and regurgitate his sword and transformed into a massive snake against Sasuke.

(5) Actual word for word quotes of Nawaki and Dan.


	7. Chapter 7: Tsunade the Terrible

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 10-12-11_

_Updated: 30-12-13_

_**I'm awesome, you're awesome. Let's make a party out of it and get this show on the road! Leave me a line or two when you're done reading, people, I'm needy like that. I nearly cried with the lower-than-usual number of reviews on the last chapter. If you haven't reviewed the previous chapter, feel free to do so. I need some feedback on the events to use for future arcs. I won't spoil anything, but it IS important to get some feedback.**_

_**Edited by goku90503**_

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><p>CH7: Tsunade the Terrible<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto's grin threatened to split his face in half as he looked down on the perfectly shaped orb of chakra in his hands. He had finally done it: he had completed the Rasengan so much sooner than he had anticipated. In a mere three weeks he completed a technique that took the Yondaime, years to create and Jiraiya, a legendary shinobi, three months with the Yondaime helping him along the way. It went to show how much he could achieve if he just used his head properly. Granted, Jiraiya had given him a few pointers here and there, but even so he couldn't be happier with himself.<p>

Still.

As great as the achievement was, Naruto felt as though something was missing. Something he couldn't quite grasp yet... what that was, he had no idea. And yet he couldn't shake the thought. What was missing? The damage done to his surrounding area was a testament to the power of the jutsu; it could easily crush boulder and shreds thick trees with ease, and yet the feeling in his stomach refused to leave. _What was missing?_

"Naruto!"

In the distance, Naruto saw Shizune running towards him looking distressed. "What is it?" He was unsure whether they were on first name terms after the violent altercation a few days ago. "Shizune, right?"

She ignored this. "Where is Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune looked around as tough half expecting to see the white mane of the sage sticking out somewhere nearby. "Tsunade is in trouble!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "What kind of trouble?"

"I haven't seen her since last night. I think she's gone to see Orochimaru to take him up on his offer!" Shizune hurriedly revealed. "I need to find Jiraiya-sama. He's the only one who can stop her. Where is he?"

Gritting his teeth, Naruto recalled his run in with the snake fiend and what he had done to Sasuke. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone appeared next to him much to Shizune's surprise as Naruto addressed his doppelganger. "Go find Ero-sennin. You'll know where to find me, go!"

The clone didn't need to be told twice and was off in an instant, leaving Naruto to turn to Shizune with a serious expression. "I don't know what's going, but I'll help." Shizune nodded with gratitude. "You said she went to meet with Orochimaru, do you know where they were?"

"Somewhere in the outskirts, they didn't discuss a precise location," Shizune informed, perfectly fine with taking Naruto with her on this one. Having seen him take on Tsunade, albeit unsuccessfully, was enough for her to know he would be useful. "Let's go."

She made to move to take off but Naruto had other plans. He bit his thumb and went through a string of hand seals so rapidly his hands were blurs. "There's no time to manually look." Naruto jumped back and slammed his hand on the ground, forcing enough chakra into the technique to summon his familiar. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

_POOF!_

A massive pillar of smoke concealed the appearance of Gamahiro. **"Rrrbit! Naruto, long time no see!" **the toad greeted amiably.

"Hey, Gamahiro!" Naruto greeted, perched on the gargantuan toad's head. "I know I'm not supposed to call you for this, but can you give us a ride? A friend of ours is in trouble and we need to find her fast!"

**"Rrrrbit! No problem! A friend of yours is a friend of mine. Hop on, lady!"** Gamahiro said to Shizune, who looked bewildered but jumped on nonetheless. Naruto pointed ahead. "Let's go, Gamahiro!" he shouted and the toad took off with a mighty leap, jumping his into the air, several hundred feet at least, giving them a clear view of the forestry below.

-ooo-

"OROCHIMARU!"

Tsunade's fist sank through the earth with tremendous power, chakra racing through her fist unleashed with pinpoint accuracy and explosive fury. The earth cracked like porcelain, chunks sticking out immediately as the crack turned into a racing crevice headed for Orochimaru. Haunted by the images of her dead loved ones, Tsunade's fit of rage was accompanied by an animalistic roar. Orochimaru backed off immediately, knowing full well what his irate, former comrade was capable of. She didn't let up though, rushing over to Orochimaru with her arm outstretched to clothesline the serpent, whose head would have surely been severed from his neck had it not been for the combined efforts of his two associates, Kabuto and Sasaki. The bespectacled shinobi had rushed over with Chakra Scalpels, cutting a tendon in Tsunade's arm to weaken her attack considerably whilst Sasaki launched forward with a downwards slash of one of his four blades.

Orochimaru crashed into the ground, skidding and bounding painfully and coming to a stop in a crouch whilst Kabuto was on the receiving end of a ribcage breaking kick and Sasaki's attack was dodged and countered with a head butt that resulted in him crashing through the clearing and into a tree with a painful grunt.

Undoubtedly, Tsunade was a force to be reckoned with. Years of inactivity may have taken their toll on her speed and power, but her mind was as sharp as ever despite her years of binge drinking. Green chakra sparked in her hand; the wound she received from Kabuto was healed in a matter of seconds. "You shouldn't have come here, Orochimaru." Her voice shook with barely restrained anger. She was looking down into the crevice in the earth, where the sacrificial corpses resembling Nawaki and Dan lied in an undignified heap. "First I'm going to kill your lackeys, and then I'm going to take my time ripping you apart."

Orochimaru snarled at the notion, face contorted with disgust and rage. "You're the one making the mistake, Tsunade! Whilst you wasted your best years away drinking yourself into a stupor, I never stopped fighting. You are no match for me!" He bound forward with amazing speed, regurgitating his blade like he had done with the sacrifices and holding it tightly with his tongue as he lunged like blurry missile of death.

Tsunade sidestepped the attack, _barely _avoiding getting fatally wounded, and retaliated with an upwards kick. Orchimaru dodged it with his superior speed. Clearly he wasn't all talk. The two engaged in the briefest of taijutsu clashes shortly before Orochimaru's henchmen joined in. Tsunade found herself fighting three at the same time. Nonetheless, before long she was overtaking the fight, punching and kicking with increased fury. Even when they outnumbered her, they could not match her strength, not when they were so inept at collaborating their efforts, something they had evidently never had to resort to before.

On the receiving end of a crushing right hook to the chest with enough force to break through a boulder, Sasaki was flung backwards once again. Confident he was out for the count, Tsunade was in for a shocking surprise when the 6'6 tall swordsman remained standing, skidding back a few feet but standing nonetheless. "What in the world..." Kabuto capitalised on her distraction and managed to land a kick on her stomach before retreating a safe distance. It was nothing compared to what she could dish out. "So, this is what you've been doing over the years, Orochimaru? Playing God with your followers? You despicable filth!"

Sasaki had taken the brunt of Tsunade's attack full on but managed survived the otherwise sure-killing blow due to the fact there were _four_ very muscular arms attached to his torso. As sickening as the idea was, the scientist inside Tsunade could not help but be intrigued with the possible explanation for this monstrosity... She banished the thought. This wasn't the time to be admiring her former friend's handiwork. She ought to get done killing him right about now.

The defensive cross-shaped guard Sasaki had put up slackened as the lower pair of arms fell, veins popping up in the muscular limbs as they swelled up and grew purple, clearly broken under the brute force of Tsunade's fist. They had taken on most of the attack. "Tche!" Sasaki looked down to the additional pair of limbs he obviously had not been born with, but rather were the result of Orochmaru's experiments. "You broke my arms, bitch!"

"And I'll break your face while I'm at it!" Tsunade roared, aiming another devastating punch to the ground.

-ooo-

(With Naruto & Shizune)

Gamahiro continued to bound forward with vigour, hundreds of feet at a time. Naruto remained perched on his head, scouring the landscape with his eyes. 'I really should invest in a pair of binoculars,' Naruto noted mentally.

"I have to say, Naruto-kun, I'm amazed you are able to summon a toad of this size!" Shizune commented, shouting so he could hear over the booming impact of Gamahiro and the screeching of the wind. She was riding on Gamahiro's shoulder to get a better vantage point. "Not many shinobi are capable of a feat like that! And you're so young too!"

Naruto spared her a glance and gave her a smile. "Thanks!" he replied. "I guess Jiraiya figured I'd be perfect for something like summoning jutsu! I've got more chakra than I know what do with!"

"Really? I don't feel it!" Shizune said, adding: "I'm not a sensory type, but I can't feel that much chakra coming from you! Your chakra levels are still higher than mine but if what you're saying is true it should be much higher! Why is that?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot!" Technically he had only gotten in twice, once from a mad scientist with a penchant for beating him with a stick and the other from his sword-wielding teammate Hayate. "I never really thought about it but I guess my body just naturally knows how to suppress my chakra! Jiraiya's been teaching me how to make proper use of it!"

"Oh!"

Having answered her question, Naruto turned to Gamahiro. Talking about summoning jutsu reminded him of something. "We might run into some snakes, Gamahiro-chan!" Naruto shouted as Gamahiro bounded onwards. "Are you up for a fight?" Naruto grinned as the massive toad gave a determined nod of his head.

**"Always!"** Gamahiro croaked loudly, bounding onwards even faster at the prospect of battle. **"I sense them ahead, Naruto!"**

Naruto frowned with confusion, had he heard that right? "You can sense them, Gamahiro-chan?" Naruto shouted his question. Gamahiro nodded midair as they neared the enemy. "What, you're a sensor toad or something?" Naruto fought the urge to laugh at the notion. It just sounded funny.

**"It's called Senjutsu, Naruto!"** Gamahiro replied. **"But more on that later, we're getting closer! Prepare yourselves!"**

-ooo-

Tsunade was down to a knee to catch her breath, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. She scowled; her years of inactivity were really showing. Scrapes and bruises adorned her arms and legs; she bled from a few shallow cuts here and there. In particular, the cut on her forehead was a source of irritation. Her greatest annoyance at the moment, however, was the fact she knew she wouldn't have made the careless mistakes that got her these injuries at few years ago.

She glared at the three in front of her, all of them sporting several injuries of their own, in particular Kabuto who had taken the brunt of most of her attacks head on, though he was able to heal his injuries whenever Tsunade was fighting Orochimaru and Sasaki. Still, she had the upper hand for now. They were too cautious to get within striking distance. Not even the cocky swordsman dared to attack on his own. After all, she only had to land one well placed punch to end the fight _and_ his life.

"You've made a grave mistake, Tsunade," Orochimaru reminded her for what seemed the hundredth time. Clearly the prospect of missing out on recruiting her rubbed him the wrong way. She spat blood to her right with a hateful glare at her former teammate. "Unfortunately for you, Tsunade, I did not come unprepared to deal with you. Kabuto!"

Kabuto looked to his master and nodded; Tsunade could see the resentment in his eyes as he hesitated for a moment before going through a string of seals to use whatever trump card they had stored just in case... "Chakura Mesu!"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and just as quickly widened as Kabuto ran the Chakra Scalpel down his torso, cleanly cutting through his clothes and the layers of his skin on his chest.

_And just like that Tsunade was twenty years old again. On the battlefield. Dan's bloodied body appeared in front of her. He gasped for air and gurgled blood. Her hands drenched in his blood._

Tsunade's memories came back to haunt her with a greater fury, gripping and unrelenting.

_"Dan! No, don't die on me now! Not now! Dan! DAN!"_

Tsunade felt sick, on the verge of vomiting as Kabuto pulled aside the layers of skin and fat to show his organs to her in order to exploit her severe haemophobia.

"Who would've thought the greatest medical jutsu expert in the world was afraid of a little blood!" Sasaki sneered as he rushed forward to Tsunade, who fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands, fighting the ghost of her memories. Even now, in the midst of battle, decades later, images of her loved ones tormented her so.

_CRASH!_

Sasaki came to an abrupt stop as a blur of red, green and white appeared in front of him. A split second and palm thrust to the chest later, the swordsmen flew through the air for the third time and crashed through two trees before coming to a skidding stop on the opposite side of the clearing.

"On your feet, Tsunade!" Jiraiya commanded, swaying somewhat on his feet. "You stupid woman," Jiraiya shouted at her, though his voice was somewhat gentle. "Give me a cure for this fucking drug, I'm seeing double – scratch that, I'm seeing triple!"

"Jiraiya!" Orochimaru screamed furiously, gripping his sword tightly and hating the very image of his former teammate. "Why is it you are always there to foil my plans? Enough!" Orochimaru rushed forward, having heard Jiraiya mentioning his poisoned state. Intent on finishing the sage off before his condition could be fixed. "Kabuto, tend to Sasaki!"

Orochimaru's body transformed midair, shifting into a more snake like figure. His body gained freakish length and his scaly skin became more prominent. As he closed in he was brought to a sudden halt as mud erected before him, hardening into a thick wall of earth.

Recognising the jutsu instantly, Orochimaru remembered with bile and hatred how his former sensei had used it against him in their bout only mere months ago. "WHO?" Orochimaru demanded with a scream. He reverted to his human form and looked around, half expecting to find the culprit.

"ME!" shouted Naruto's clone as it appeared a short distance away, hurling a salvo of kunai with exploding tags attached to them. Orochimaru dodged and deflected them easily enough; however most of them sank in the earth wall behind him and detonated, sending thick, jagged chunks of earth his way.

As Orochimaru batted chunks away with his sword , slicing and dicing the chunks of earth like butter or some other soft substance, and retreated a short distance, a stream of fire came bearing down on him from behind. Snarling in anger, Orochimaru dived through the fire, much to the audible surprise of the clone, protected by his tough skin, modified with extracts of snake scales: a result of his life's work to become the Ultimate Being.

_Poof!_

The clone was dispatched easily enough but Orochimaru had already lost his momentum. Surely Jiraiya would have already prepared to counter his attack by now, even in his poisoned state. "Kabuto! Sasaki!"

His associates were by him instantly, their injuries tended to by Kabuto, whose skin was once again covered his organs. The use of Chakura Mesu in such a manner was nothing short of a life threatening: prolonged exposure could result in all kinds of health problems, ranging from infections to failing organs. "You two, take care of Tsunade. I will deal with Jiraiya... Do not fail me!"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied dogmatically just as Sasaki nodded and said, "You got it, Boss."

They made to charge forward, intent on separating the Sannin as quick as possible and disposing of them individually – _just as Gamahiro came crashing down before them_.

_CRASH!_

The giant toad crashed down with such force the earth gave away, forming a deep impression on the landscape as it landed next to two Sannin, destroying multiple trees as it landed. **"RRRBIT!"**

Shizune jumped of the road and rushed to her master's side. "Tsunade-sama!" she called with relief. Naruto looked to Jiraiya. "Ero-sennin, how did you get here before we did?" He was somewhat annoyed, despite the look of things. How the hell did Jiraiya move so fast, from what his clone had reported through their mental link, Jiraiya had been poisoned – by Tsunade, no less! For him to beat them to this location... Naruto had a new respect for the sage. He was something else.

Jiraiya kept his eyes locked on Orochimaru. "Let's just say this isn't the first time Tsunade's tried to poison me," he gave a wry smile as though remembering something humorous, "I've built a resistance to her poisons, more or less."

"Right." Naruto jumped down in a crouch next to Jiraiya just as Shizune reached Tsunade, hurriedly charging her own hands with green chakra, though it was quite unnecessary as Tsunade's wounds were not the problem. "What's happened to her?"

"There's no time. How about you use some of that medical expertise on me instead, I'm still poisoned," Jiraiya reminded her.

Shizune nodded, looking to Tsunade for a moment, and then moving to Jiraiya with green chakra in her hands. She placed her hands on Jiraiya's chest; as he did so Jiraiya looked to Gamahiro and whistled appreciatively. "You got Gamahiro to be your familiar? Not bad, brat, not bad at all," Jiraiya complimented, shifting his gaze from Gamahiro to Naruto with an approving nod. The massive toad gave a croak and bowed his head respectfully.

Naruto gave a small smile. It wasn't really the right time, but they, and he rarely got compliments from the sage that weren't accompanied with an insult or two-

"Of course, it only took me a month to summon toads his side," Jiraiya added airily. "And to think it took you this long despite my help... It's kinda embarassin', don't you think?"

Naruto's expression fell. Talk about speaking too soon. "Bastard," he muttered as he assumed a stance. Eyes narrowed, Naruto spotted Kabuto and Orochimaru biting their thumbs: the former went through through a string of hand seals whilst the latter merely pulled up his sleeve and smeared blood down his arm. "Hey, Erojiji, what is that tattoo – is he about to summon-?"

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

"Shit!" Jiraiya swore. By the looks of it, Naruto's thoughts were confirmed. One could make a tattoo of their summoning contract.

_POOF! POOF!_

With two massive pillars of smoke, two of the largest serpents Naruto had ever seen appeared. He felt a cold shiver run down his back as he viewed the larger of the serpents: he was coloured purple, and had black rings running down intervals on his body and massive, _massive _fangs, easily five times as big as Naruto. The other was similar to the former, albeit considerably smaller and was silver and black; he oddly resembled Manda enough Naruto imagined them to be related, perhaps father and son. They easily dwarfed the serpents he had encountered in the Forest of Death.

**"OROCHIMARU!" **hissed Manda angrily. **"How dare you summon me unannounced? Where are my one hundred sacrifices?"**

"You shall have them soon," Orochimaru assured as he stood on the massive beast's forehead. Staring into the distance he saw Jiraiya biting his thumb and go through a string of hand seals of his own. "And you may want to save your appetite for your archenemy."

**"What nonsense is this, Orochimaru?" **Manda demanded angrily, swiping his tail and crushing a portion of the trees encircling the clearing, which had already been damaged severely by the battle that had raged on before the snakes were summoned. **"You mean-?"**

_POOF!_

**"JIRAIYA!"**

Gamabunta appeared a massive dumpling of rice and flies the size of a small house still in his hand. Evidently, the Toad Chief had been eating just as he was summoned, and this clearly angered Bunta. **"How dare you summon me during my meal! You and your little apprentice both! I ought to -"** Gamabunta caught himself midsentence as his massive eyes Manda and his son before them. **"MANDA!"**

Naruto sweat-dropped, he could instantly spot the hatred between the Toad Chief and boss summon of the snakes. 'How in the hell did I get caught up in this freak show?' Naruto looked up to Jiraiya, perched on Gamabunta's head and decided to jump on top of Gamahiro, whose cheeks were swelling and deflating angrily at the sight of Manda's son, upon whose head Kabuto and Sasaki were standing. "Make me a snakeskin wallet, Gamahiro-chan!"

**"You fucking got it, Naruto! RRRBIT!"**

Having never heard or expected his toad familiar to swear Naruto did a double take. The notion of it hadn't even crossed his mind, it was just too odd. It sounded even odder since Gamahiro's entire getup resembled that of a samurai – warriors, Naruto believed, who never swore as it was deemed unnecessary and dishonourable. "Ye- Yeah! Get him, tear those slimy snake bastards apart! You too, Gamabunta!"

**"RRBIT!" **Gamahiro and Gamabunta responded in unison as Gamahiro unsheathed his blade.

**"Here, take that you stinking snake!"** Gamabunta threw the smelly looking rice and flies dumpling in his hand at Manda, hitting him straight in the face. **"Suck on that, you worthless shit!"**

Orochimaru had been lucky to dodge the massive rice ball, however Manda was not and the massive snake trashed with fury. **"WHAT IS THIS STENCH? FILTHY TOAD STENCH! ARGH, YOU HAVE CROSSED ME FOR THE LAST TIME, GAMABUNTA! I WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!"**

And the fight was on. Whether their summoners directed to or not. Perhaps one day Naruto would look back and laugh his ass off as he retold the story. However, that was not the case now. It was the present and the present was _fucking terrifying_. It took Naruto's utmost of self-control not to let out a frightened scream as the massive beasts collided.

Midair, Orochimaru and Jiraiya jumped at one another and engaged in a fierce taijutsu match he soon lost track of as they seeming disappeared, leaving Naruto, Gamahiro and Gamabunta to deal with Kabuto, Sasaki, Manda and his son.

Distracted for the briefest of moments, Naruto did not see it coming when Sasaki flew towards him and jump-kneed him straight in the face with such force Naruto could _hear_ something break as he flew backwards through the air. Kabuto soared past, using him as a stepping stone to get ahead whilst crushing his ribs under his sandal.

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Sasaki)

Naruto crashed to the ground and was followed swiftly by Sasaki as Kabuto landed in a nimble crouch like a cat and charged towards his targets, Tsunade and Shizune. Clearly, he intended to take out Tsunade before she got over her catatonic spell. Kabuto's hands were already sparkling with blue chakra, Naruto saw it clearly when the bespectacled shinobi stepped on him. Naruto could only hope Shizune was on top of her game. As strong as Tsunade was, Shizune had informed him of her affliction on the way over and from the looks of it she wasn't going to be of much help.

"Ough!" Naruto lied flat on his back, blood running down his nose and a headache already on the way. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Naruto mentally berated himself. How could he have let himself be distracted like that?

Keen on some revenge, Naruto rolled over his shoulders in a crouch to face his attacker. He was considerably taller than Naruto, around 6'6 and appeared to be rather muscular - he couldn't quite tell due to his opponent's cloak. His skin was somewhat greyish-brown; his hair short rows of brown spiky locks; dark eyes accentuated by a feral grin easily noticeably due to his jagged, shark like teeth. A thick, jagged scar ran down Sasaki's left eye: a wound of battle most likely.

Sasaki stood waiting for him calmly, arms stowed under his cloak. It was insulting, really, but Naruto wouldn't let his pride get the better of him. It was much more entertaining to wipe the smirk of his face through force and make him regret his arrogance right before he put him out of his misery. Naruto whipped off the blood from under his nose and climbed to his feet. The Kyūbi's chakra already started to heal his broken nose.

"A healing ability? Now that's impressive!" Sasaki exclaimed with unnerving enthusiasm, clearly impressed. "Is that a bloodline limit or something? You're a lucky little shit, aren't you?"

Naruto gave no response and surged forward. A kunai shot in his hand from the ninja wire contraption built under his sleeve. Sasaki sidestepped the initial lunge and lightly dashed backwards to avoid the second swipe, all the while keeping his hands under his cloak. "You're going to have to better than that," Sasaki taunted, much to Naruto's annoyance, who growled and charged again, swiping and stabbing with fury, only to miss at every step. Sasaki retaliated with a sudden, brutal high kick to the face. Naruto dropped to the ground, rolling over his shoulders on the dirt. He formed a hand seal and wordlessly created three Kage Bunshin to aide him in his fight.

The clones charged ahead as Naruto switched to ninjutsu. He could tell Sasaki was faster than him and that taijutsu would not win him this fight. It wasn't so much that his opponent was _that_ fast, but rather that his considerable height advantage over Naruto made it tougher for the chūnin to land a solid blow, let alone beat him. The blonde had learned of this disadvantage against Kigiri, the first opponent who was considerably taller than him. From a mere glimpse of Sasaki's abilities, Naruto could tell he wouldn't have it as easy as he did against Kigiri, who was considerably slower and whose moves were painfully easy to read. He had a much more difficult time reading Sasaki's movements.

'I really need to spend some more time with Lee,' Naruto made a mental note as he took deep breath. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" The three clones who had been throwing kicks and punches at Sasaki simultaneously jumped back as the Dragon Fire jutsu raced towards Sasaki.

"Tche!" Sasaki was audibly annoyed having to resort to his kenjutsu as he withdrew a single sword, sheath and all, from his hip and twirled it at an insane speed to redirect the fire. The fire stream bounced off the sword sheath and split into three smaller blasts to destroy the clones.

Naruto jumped forward, expecting to land a punch, only to be blocked by the sword sheath gripped firmly by Sasaki, who had the audacity to look indifferent. "You're good, kid, but hopelessly out of your _fucking_ league!" Sasaki declared.

Furious with himself and with Sasaki for toying with him, Naruto launched himself backwards and landed in a crouch, and ran forward again, cocking back his arm and aiming for the dirt before Sasaki. "Fūton: Reppūshō!" he shouted, palm thrusting the air.

As it had done against Tsunade, dirt kicked upwards to form a massive, obscuring cloud of earth. However, no sooner had Naruto ran into it and made a seal to create more Shadow Clones, had Sasaki appeared before him, somehow having sniffed him out in the dirt cloud, leaning so low he was ducked under Naruto's hands as they formed a hand seal. The swordsman half unsheathed his blade, shoving the butt of the sword handle into Naruto's ribs.

"Ungh!" Naruto held his ribs as he flew out the dirt cloud through the air, a sharp pain in his ribs. Sasaki possessed monstrous strength. Though it was nowhere near that of the Sannin, he still cracked bones with ease.

"I've already seen you use that attack," Sasaki revealed. "Once I've seen an attack, it won't ever work on me."

Naruto struggled to catch his breath. When he regained his bearings he reached for his summoning scroll in his pouch. He came to the conclusion a while ago: he was going to need to use a real weapon at some point if he ever faced a swordsman as skilled as Sasaki. He withdrew the summoning scroll in which he stored the weapons he had gathered from the bandits he dispatched days ago. Naruto didn't have time to specifically unseal one, thus decided to unseal all of them at once. With a pillar of smoke the weapons appeared on the ground. There were several weapons he had collected: a bow and a few clubs and spears and daggers here and there but Naruto picked the one that came without a sheath, its gleaming metal beckoning him.

"What's this," Sasaki mockingly feigned ignorance. "You're going to try and match my swordsmanship? You must be a whole fucking lot dumber than you look, kid!"

Naruto gripped the blade tightly. It was shorter than a katana, a kodachi or a nodachi perhaps, he couldn't quite tell. His knowledge on swords was too limited to accurately determine the sword type. Examining it for the briefest moments it seemed to have been kept in good condition; its metal gleamed in the light as he held it up. Where there was supposed to be a guard or a sword hilt there was only a thick layer of white bandages. Naruto could tell the sword was probably never finished, but he didn't have much time to be choosy and pick another as Sasaki rushed forward with his own sword still sheathed.

"Don't think I'll let you have a nice little nit and pick, kiddo, I don't have all day!"

_Clang!_

Naruto successfully blocked Sasaki's downwards slash with the blade in his hand.

Sasaki's eyes widened. "What the-" Capitalising on the opening, Naruto kicked him in the chest, forcing the older man to back off and charged on, intent on keeping his momentum going. "You're not getting away that easily!" Naruto lunged forward; Sasaki deflected with considerable force, blowing Naruto's arm backwards. The swordsman was in for a surprise however, when Naruto reversed the blade's hilt and somersaulted sideways, ripping through Sasaki's cloak and revealing Sasaki's remaining two arms. Much like Tsunade, his brief distraction cost him a kick to the gut - a surprisingly powerful kick which sent him skidding and bounding over the ground with incredible force.

Naruto stabbed the earth with his blade to come to a stop. He pointedly ignored the pain in his chest, too shocked with his opponent's four arms. "What the fuck is that?" Naruto needlessly gestured to the pair of additional arms attached to Sasaki's ribcage. Though muscular, they were a sickening hue of dark purple and veins popped out: they appeared to be broken. 'Probably by the old hag,' Naruto deducted, whistling lowly at that thought.

"Oh, these?" Sasaki feigned embarrassed modesty. "Let's just say Orochimaru-sama is good to his people." Sasaki made a distasteful noise, "The old bitch broke these with a single punch though... Fuck it!" As though decided on a whim, Sasaki unsheathed his blade, and to Naruto's horror, sliced off his additional pair of arms. "What's that look for, it's not like you're the one feeling it. This hurts like hell!"

"You sure don't look like you're in a lot of pain," Naruto observed easily.

Sasaki shrugged indifferently. "Heh, I guess I've grown used to it. What's your name?" Sasaki then asked curiously. "You're an interesting kid. I'm still going to kill you, but I like to learn the names of the interesting people I kill."

Not at all flattered Naruto humoured him anyway. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Sasaki Genji," his opponent gave a mock bow. "Thought that won't matter much longer, seeing as you're going to die now."

"Ahuh," Naruto grunted noncommittally, sneaking a glance over his shoulder to see Shizune fighting Kabuto whilst protecting an unmoving Tsunade. 'I need to settle this as quickly as I can,' Naruto decided. "Let's get this over with, Sasaki."

Sasaki shrugged. "It's your funeral."

"No, it isn't. Not today," Naruto challenged, the sword still held in a reverse grip. It felt more comfortable that way; the sword's hilt was shorter than usual it was light and balanced, only somewhat heavier than a kunai. **(1)** Whoever created this sword clearly knew what they were doing. Its sharpness and lightness was a testament to that fact.

Seemingly accepting his challenge, Sasaki unsheathed his blade and held it along with the sheath in his other hand. "I'll make sure to spill some sake for your soul, Uzumaki Naruto!" Sasaki kicked his discarded limbs at Naruto and charged.

His opponent wasn't above using dirty tricks it seemed, Naruto realised as he cut through the discarded arms far easier than he had anticipated. Sasaki was upon him in an instant and slammed his sword sheath in his ribs, breaking his feeble defence and stabbing at his face, though he escaped with only a cut on his cheek. Angered, Naruto retaliated with a head butt, which he instantly regretted as it did him more harm than Sasaki who recovered almost instantaneously, and punched back with the guard of his blade, forcing him into a dazed stumble.

Whether it was down to pure luck or actual skill, Naruto had no idea but as he kicked upwards on instinct he pushed back the upcoming attack, forcing the hilt away with his foot and using his body as a ledge of sorts as he fell backwards in his stumbled and rolled over his shoulders back to his feet and side flipped again to avoid another stab. 'I can't face him head on!' Naruto reminded himself, flushing chakra to his legs and dashing back and around in rapid succession and eyes locked on Sasaki, looking for an opening to exploit as he dodged ducked stabs and swipes. There were no openings, much to his frustration.

"You're a fast little fucker, I'll give you that. It's not going to do you any good though," Sasaki declared, sauntering aimlessly and yawning without a care in the world. "You won't touch me, kid. You're nowhere near skilled enough with a sword to actually beat me, and even if you were, you still wouldn't be fast enough to do any damage."

Naruto leapt forward, the blade in a regular grip and attempt to hack and slash away at Sasaki. Perhaps random and unpredictable attacks would throw him off. Who knew? It could work – _or not_. Naruto backed away with a fresh cut on his abdomen, once again saved by his reflexes: Sasaki had aimed to run him through this time.

"This is getting old," Sasaki noted with clear boredom_. _Despite this, Naruto could tell he was getting on his opponent's nerves. "Say, why don't you tell me all about your little healing ability? At least humour me, won't you? Four Eyes over there is hogging the cute one, so even if I kill you right here and now, I'll still be left to my own devices. I'll be bored out of my fucking mind watching Four Eyes play with his food."

'How the hell is this guy beating me?' It was one thing to lose to someone more skilled than you were; it was another, completely unacceptable thing to lose to someone with the mentality of a fucking six year old. "It's called none-of-your-fucking-business!"

"_Ooh_, touchy!" Sasaki mocked.

Naruto decided to wing it and charged ahead, once again engaging Sasaki in a brief bout of a kenjutsu duel. He fared better this time, letting his instincts and reflexes take control as he jumped and turned and sidestepped with acrobatic finesse and retaliated with ferociousness, hacking at whatever he could reach. It seemed to put Sasaki on the defence, something he clearly wasn't used to and whilst he struggled to react in time, Naruto managed to cut him in the arm. It was a shallow cut, perhaps in actuality it was a graze, but he regarded it as a small victory nonetheless.

Sasaki dashed backwards. He held his sword above him, expecting his wound with a bemused expression. "Alright then, looks like you're getting serious, kid," Sasaki growled approvingly. "See if you can take this! Hitotachi no Tensai!"

In an instant, before Naruto could even blink, Sasaki blazed past him at speed his eyes follow but his body could not react to. Pain suddenly shot through Naruto, and as he looked down his chest he realised he was bleeding from a deep slash mark running from his abdomen to his side.

"Ugh, _you've got to be fucking kidding me_..." Naruto dropped to a knee, leaning on his sword for a second or two before he fell face-first on the ground with a grunt, eyes closing as the world went dark.

-ooo-

(Jiraiya VS Orochimaru)

Orochimaru and Jiraiya were going at it at untraceable speeds, trading blows all over the place. They were moving so fast they were merely blurs to anyone who tried to keep up. Their clashes were brief and destructive, rendering their surrounding area to nothingness, as though a bomb had gone off and blown everything away.

"It appears your apprentice has met his match a little early," Orochimaru taunted. He was stuck to a tree, which shuddered and lost its leafs as Gamabunta and Manda continued to go at it, destroying the landscape even more than they were and their massive weights causing minor quakes. "Did you really think he could best Sasaki? You're a fool, Jiraiya!"

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" was the sage's response.

Orochimaru didn't even bother dodging and dove straight through the fire, protected by his hard-as-rock scales.

_Clang!_

His blade held in his tongue was met with tough resistance against Jiraiya's headband. Orochimaru frowned; he should've cut straight through it with ease. After all the Kusanagi was a legendary blade of untold value – a true _Shinken_.

Jiraiya broke his thoughts with a solid punch to the face that sent him crashing through the tree he had just vacated.

The Toad Sage hung upside down from a thick tree branch and tapped his forehead protector: it had the kanji for 'oil' engraved between the two demonic-looking horns. "Mt. Myōbokuzan steel," Jiraiya elaborated. "Your pretty little blade might cut through everything else, but not this."

"We'll see about that!" Orochimaru hissed.

The legendary shinobi moved in an instant, meeting one another midair in another clash, which was left wholly undecided as they broke apart in less than a second.

"I'll make sure you'll be reunited with _all _of your students today, Jiraiya!" Orochimaru spat a green, acidic substance at Jiraiya. The white-haired Sanin dodged with relative ease.

"Why don't you worry about yourself, Maru?" Jiraiya mocked. He snuck a glance to the distance, hoping and willing his apprentice to get to his feet and carry on fighting.

"You look worried, old friend!"

Jiraiya ducked and dodged swipes and stabs spat and acidic oil of his own at Orochimaru, forcing him to a distance once more. Two could play at that game. "I'm not. I've got complete faith in that kid," Jiraiya replied with bravado. "Unlike you, I don't just use my students for my own gains. I have faith in my kid's abilities. He'll pull through. You just watch."

Orochimaru snarled at Jiraiya. "What would you possible be know about teaching, Jiraiya? At the very least all of my students are alive. Well_, those that didn't fail me._" He cackled with mad laughter. "The same cannot be said for you. All the students you have ever taught are _dead!_" Orochimaru sneered at him. "And this one will join the others soon enough. As will you!"

Jiraiya's face contorted with anger. "You're going to pay for that one, Orochimaru." Jiraiya jumped back a distance and went through a hand seals. "I guess it's time I'll show you some of _my_ new techniques. I sure you'll appreciate the contrast between the freak show you've become and what I am capable of!" Jiraiya slammed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

_POOF! POOF!_

**"Jiraiya-chan?"** Shima and Fukasaku croaked as they appeared before him. **"Long time no see,"** Shima croaked happily whilst Fakusaku glared at Orochimaru. **"So it has finally come to this, Jiraiya-chan? Well then, I suppose calling us was the right to do, but still,"** the elderly toad's cheeks swell up with annoyance, **"You really must take the time to master Sage Mode on your own, Jiraiya-chan!"**

"Thanks for coming, Ma, Pa! I will," Jiraiya replied. They did tend to infantilise him, and had done so since he was a child. It only seemed appropriate to refer to them affectionately.

Orochimaru's sneer was dropped in exchange for a confused expression. "Sage Mode?" the serpent repeated. "Well _that _sounds interesting."

"You'll see soon enough!" Jiraiya declared as Ma and Pa hopped on his shoulders and he slapped his hands together. "Right after I gather enough sage energy – see ya!"

Orochimaru nearly did a double take as Jiraiya suddenly turned around and high-tailed out of there. "What is this mockery?" Orochimaru hissed as he pursued.

-ooo-

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto woke up with a groan and crawled to his feet, noticing under the poor lighting the water he had been lying face down was neither cold nor wet. "This place again?" Naruto said out loud. He had only been here once but he remembered it clearly – who wouldn't have? He was thrown of a damn ravine when it happened the first time. 'Good times,' Naruto thought dryly as he remembered summoning Gamabunta for the very first time. He looked around the Kyūbi's lair. Technically it was his mindscape, but for the life of him Naruto couldn't understand why his mind would resemble a sewer, thus he preferred to think of it as the Kyūbi's dominion.

"Might as well get this over with," Naruto grumbled as he began to walk in a random direction.

Finding the Kyūbi's cage was easy enough; he seemed to instinctively know where to go. "Kyūbi!" Naruto called out to the darkness behind the giant gate. "I know you're there, wake up! It's time to pay rent, fur ball!"

A gargantuan claw emerged from between the gates, clawing at Naruto angrily. **"Whelp,"** the Kyūbi acknowledged his presence. **"I had expected to see you sooner, now that we have an agreement." (2) **Naruto stared right back at the giant red, slit eyes. The Kyūbi's massive fangs gleamed in a snarl.

"No thanks," Naruto replied, refusing to blink. "There's no way I'm going to start relying on you, Kyūbi. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I'm going to fight with my own strength. I'm not a coward!"

The fox gave a dark chuckle, pressing its head to the gates. Naruto gave a sigh. He didn't exactly _like_ doing this. "It looks like we're up against someone stronger than I am. I'm going to need your help on this one."

**"And you shall have it... as per our agreement!"**

Crimson, bubbly chakra began to ebb outwards from the cage and touched Naruto's feet; it appeared as though Naruto was set on fire as a cloak of crimson chakra settled over him, infusing him with strength that was not his own. "Thanks."

-ooo-

(Real World: Naruto VS Sansaki)

Sasaki had been watching Kabuto from afar, having thought his blonde opponent was down for the count, but as he felt an enormous spike of chakra, his eyes flickered to Naruto, who stirred awake with a grunt as his body rejuvenated and the wound on his side and stomach seamlessly closed up.

"What the fuck is this?" Sasaki growled with confusion. What the hell was going with this kid? He was sure he had put him down for good! "What are you?" Sasaki demanded.

Naruto slowly got to his feet, his eyes no longer electric blue orbs but blood red, slit eyes piercing the older man with cold, level headed killing intent. "The end of you." No sooner had Naruto said it, did chakra, crimson chakra, flow out and cover him like a cloak. "I guess I should give this form a name..." Naruto said to himself out loud in a soft, pensive tone. Then, looking at Sasaki for the briefest of seconds, he seemingly disappeared...

... And reappeared next to the arachnid swordsman, decking him in the cheek with enough force to break his cheekbone. Sasaki grunted in pain, hopping sideways on one leg to keep from falling due to the pure force he had been struck with. Sasaki stopped himself by stabbing the earth and leant on his sword. But Naruto was on him, speedily appearing in front of him and plunging his fist in the swordsman's stomach before he could defend himself. His gasp for air was like music to his ears. 'A fucking symphony!' Naruto thought as Sasaki fell to his knees, now at the height of Naruto's shoulders. Taking a step back to dodge a wild swing to the neck, Naruto retaliated with a powerful kick to Sasaki's face; the swordsman's head was smashed straight to the ground sideways, sinking a few inches into the ground.

He wasn't down for long however, rolling aside as Naruto raised his heel high in the air, intending to break Sasaki's solar plexus. The earth crumbled upon impact, forming a sizeable depression. Naruto looked to his side, glaring at Sasaki who had managed to react fast enough to avoid his killing blow.

Swiping blood from his chin, Sasaki snarled. "Alright, no more playing around!" He cast aside the remains of his cloak. Under his cloak Sasaki wore a simple black mesh garb, nothing extravagant. It was wholly basic and practical, with additional holes on the side of his robe to accommodate his additional pair of limbs. Sasaki held a syringe in his hand. He gave a laugh: loud and boisterous. "This, my shithead little friend, is a serum created by Orochimaru-sama. What does it do you ask?"

"I don't care," Naruto interjected with indifference.

Sasaki continued unperturbed. "Well, I'll tell you anyway!" Sasaki cackled insanely; Naruto remained unimpressed. "You might have heard of Orochimaru-sama's cursed seals." At this Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, this is that in the form of serum! See, our agreement was that I didn't get a pretty mark like the others; I don't want him to control me. I'm not like the others, I'm not crazy."

"You sure could've fooled me." Naruto stared impassively, his insides cold with measured rage. For whatever reasons, this... _jinchūriki mode_ changed his disposition. He was calmer, more level headed. His anger was still there, there was no doubt about it, but he felt in control. He _was_ in control. "It won't help," Naruto said coldly. "You're going to die right here..."

Sasaki cackled with deranged laughter. He seemed psychotic. Even more so when he suddenly stabbed himself in the thigh without warning, screaming at the top of his lungs. "I JUST WANT POWER!" Sasaki roared with pain as he buckled under the strain and agony his body was going through as flesh seemed to pour of his sides: it was a sickening sight, but Naruto watched on nonetheless.

"There we go," Sasaki breathed heavily moments later, on one knee and with a twisted grin on his face.

In the distance, Naruto could see, Gamahiro was having a tough time against Manda's son, but he was faring well nonetheless. The same could be said for Gamabunta. Though he had been bitten once or twice, Manda had at least three puncture wounds in his thick hide and was bleeding more than the toad boss. Naruto could see the massive snake was in the process of shedding its skin to heal itself.

"Let's get this over with," Naruto said, glancing to Tsunade and Shizune. Shizune was forced to take on Kabuto on her own whilst Tsunade remained in a catatonic state.

"You're going to regret those words, you little shit!" Face darkening with anger, Sasaki unsheathed all four of his blades.

Naruto smiled slightly in a taunting fashion. "I thought spiders had eight legs? Even including your legs, you've got six. What are you, a reject?" It didn't get a rise out of Sasaki as Naruto had hoped; the only response he got was a scowl.

"The serum is a work in progress." Sasaki's four swords crossed in front of him an offensive guard. "Now the fight really begins, kid! Now you DIE!" Sasaki charged, not quite as fast as he was before. Naruto credited this to the strenuous results from growing additional limbs. "Yonte Satsujin!"

Narut's chakra flared and the crimson cloak of energy covered him. He moved instantaneously, streaking past Sasaki and coming to an abrupt stop a few feet away. He suffered a thick gash on his right bicep and a cut on his cheek and his shirt was badly ripped. It was a small cost however; his wounds immediately started to heal. His psychotic opponent fell to a knee with a scream having been on the receiving end of tearing claw of the Kyūbi's chakra to his side but not yet out of the fight.

Naruto calmly turned to look over his shoulder to see Sasaki turn around; he smiled vaguely, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

"Hmm?"

"Hehehe..." Oddly enough, Sasaki seemed to be calling down. He went from enraged to passive so quick Naruto was convinced there was something wrong with the guy. "You're good, kid. I'm glad I met you."

Naruto slowly turned around and went through a string of seals just as Sasaki noticed the dozens of caltrops on spread over the ground. "Doton: Doryū Taiga," Naruto called, crouching as he sunk his fingers into the ground. The earth rapidly grew moist and shot up to wrap Sasaki in a muddy blanket. The caltrops stuck out sporadically over the mud.

Why was it easy? The Kyūbi's chakra strengthened his jutsu exponentially. It was almost _too_ easy restraining the swordsman. The look of horror on Sasaki's face was almost amusing. Perhaps the swordsman could tell he was about to die already.

Naruto withdrew his fingers from the earth and stood up, his hands in the ram seal. "Yume no Hara!"

_BOOM!_

Keyed to his chakra signature, the special brand of caltrops given to him by Shiho detonated within the containment of the hold he had on Sasaki. The explosion was so powerful it a powerful gale blew past.

Where Sasaki had stood only moments ago was a large, blackened crater bellowing smoke.

Naruto spared no second glance and looked to the distance where he saw Tsunade and Shizune. His eyes narrow.

In a blink of an eye he disappeared, a mere blur at the speed he was travelling.

-ooo-

(Shizune & Tsunade VS Kabuto)

Shizune couldn't remember ever having a tougher time on the battlefield than she did now. Granted, she wasn't very battle hardened to begin with considering she left Konoha with Tsunade at a young age. She had been barely a genin at the time, so it wasn't like she had any experience worth speaking of at that point. Tsunade took her in to be part of the first batch of kunoichi trained as medical shinobi. She was supposed to be proof that Tsunade's proposed policy, the compulsory teaching of basic medical ninjutsu, would be a great addition to the academy's teaching curriculum. Her uncle Dan had encouraged Tsunade to push for the idea. Unfortunately Tsunade's policy was not only rejected due to low funds at time of war, but Dan died not long after. It had taken Tsunade too long to reach his team's position in the battlefield. **(3)** Had her proposed plan been accepted and enforced, there might have been someone there who could've stopped the bleeding until she arrived. Perhaps in another universe, where her plan was accepted, Dan could have lived... perhaps.

Shizune snapped out of it with a shake of her head. Tsunade's haemophobia had thrown her mind off track. "Tsunade-sama, please snap out of it!" Shizune pleaded, pulling back the wire on her senbon launcher and firing a hail at Kabuto.

"Oh, by the look of her, she's clearly gone catatonic," Kabuto patronised. He dodged her senbon projectiles with relative ease. An arrogant smile graced his bespectacled features. "Just give up," he taunted Shizune. "You know you cannot beat me."

"You coward," Shizune spat for a lack of words.

Kabuto was not impressed. Offering her a theatrical raise of the arms he mocked her in a pretentious tone. "Oh, come now. We are shinobi, there is no such thing as cowardice. There are only those who kill and those who are killed – _like you_."

Chakra Scalpels charged, the silver-haired nuke-nin rushed at Shizune. She glared at him, wrapping Tsunade's arm around her neck and holding up a one-handed hand seal. "Ninpō: Dokugiri!"

Purple gas escaped out of her mouth in an obscure cloud of poison. The Poison Mist technique was Shizune's ace in the hole. Classed as a kinjutsu due to the harmful long term risks to the user and highly dangerous nature of the technique, it was useful for making a quick getaway and making sure your pursuers couldn't follow you. Shizune's variant was a mild toxic one, capable of knocking out a fully grown adult for twelve hours. Unfortunately she was up against another medical shinobi. Kabuto's Chakura Mesu faltered; replaced seconds later by green healing chakra to clear his lungs and from the toxic substance in the air, also preventing it from entering his bloodstream.

"Damn it, Tsunade-sama..." Shizune swore. She felt helpless, beleaguered by both Kabuto and Tsunade, the latter of whom had become a liability in her catatonic state, unable to take care of Kabuto, a shinobi she could've destroyed with ease on her worst day in her prime.

"Neat little trick," Kabuto commented as he emerged from the purple mist of poison, "But we really must wrap this up!" Kabuto retrieved an unconventional kunai from his holster: it was customised to be longer and curved on the end; a tool used by Hunter Ninja for field autopsies perhaps.

Shizune stumbled backwards and fell to the ground in her hurry to escape. She spread her arms protectively over Tsunade, a determined expression on her face: willing to die protecting her teacher.

"Touching," Kabuto sneered. He plunged the kunai forward, aiming for Shizune's chest. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her killer in the eye; as she closed her eyes she saw a blur of black and blue.

A ripping sound of flesh and spatter of blood made her open her eyes.

Before her stood Naruto with his back turned to them, in his hand firmly gripping Kabuto's hand despite having a lengthy kunai drilled to his hand. **(4)**

"What happened to Sasaki!" Kabuto demanded. His arrogance changed to outrage and confusion. "You should be dead! You should be-" he fell short on his sentence, a cold shiver running down his spine as he looked into Naruto red, slit eyes.

"He's dead, and you're about to join him." Naruto called forth the Kyūbi's chakra and applied more pressure. Kabuto gave a scream of pain as Naruto audibly broke his hand and forced him on to one knee. Naruto then let go of the Kyūbi's chakra and it ebbed away as soon as he called it; his eyes reverted to shocking blue. "Pay attention, bachan, I'm about to win our bet."

To Shizune's immense shock, Tsunade, even in her catatonic state, shifted her gaze to meet Naruto's eyes as he looked at her over his shoulder, nodding ever so slightly. "Tsu- Tsunade-sama!"

Naruto looked back to Kabuto who lunged with another kunai. Naruto batted away his hand, reared back his head and delivered a cracking heat butt to the bespectacled medic nin, breaking his glasses with ease. Then Naruto out stretched his free hand and concentrated.

Kabuto quivered as chakra began to visibly swirl in Naruto's hand. Did Kabuto recognise the jutsu he was about to use, Naruto wondered for only a brief moment. The blue orb of chakra screeched a delightful humming sound. Kabuto jumped to his feet and desperately tried to back away; unfortunately for him Naruto's grip was too strong.

As Naruto pushed the orb towards Kabuto's chest, the latter's free hand sparked with chakra.

Naruto roared as he pushed the blue orb into Kabuto's chest. "RASENGAN!"

The results were spectacular. Drilling an actual human with the technique was far different than what he had experienced testing the jutsu on inanimate objects like trees and boulders. The Rasengan's screech kicked up in volume as it rotated with such velocity Kabuto's clothes shredded under the rotating force of the Rasengan.

Naruto's eyes widened as Kabuto began fighting back against the Rasengan's force, much to Naruto's horror, and raised his chakra covered hand with a furious scream. Acting on instinct, Naruto roared as he pushed more chakra into the Rasengan. Then the orb expanded and swallowed Kabuto whole. Naruto continued to push the technique and sent it blasting off. **(5)**

Kabuto's screams were drowned by the screeching Rasengan that enveloped him. The Rasengan blasted through the clearing before coming to a stop with an explosion.

_BANG!_

Shizune's eyes were widened. "Ama- Th- That was amazing, Naruto-kun!" She felt like cheering as she scrambled to her feet. Naruto's posture slumped; his face was set in an ambiguous expression: he appeared to be half surprised with his own technique and _conflicted_... Angry, even.

"Naruto-kun?" Shizune placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked. He gave no response. "Naruto-"

Blood gushed out of his mouth. Naruto fell forward, his eyes rolling back into his head as he fell with a dull thud.

"Naruto!"

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><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

Yo, yo, yo!

Hope you guys enjoys enjoyed that. This chapter pretty much wrote itself so I gotta admit I'm pretty pleased with it. Some parts did feel a bit rushed but whatever, right? I just want to get back to the writing original arcs. That gets my freak juice going, ya'namean? You probably don't, but that's OK. It just means you're not as awesome I thought you were.

Oh, before I forget: I fucking LOVE writing Gamabunta's character! I tend to write him in a more outlandish fashion – he might even cross you as a racist if you think about it, considering he always has something bad to say about other summons. Would that make him racist though – or is it _species-ist? _Right, I just confused myself. What is wrong with me?

In case the reasoning is lost on you, Jiraiya used his Sage Mode against Orochimaru 'cos he fully intended to kill his old pal. Orochimaru's arms were never sealed away, so that obviously made him a much tougher threat. We'll see more of their fight later, no worries.

I guess that's all I got! Disappointing, huh? Tche! Tell me about it in a **review**! I love me some **reviews**!

You got that? **Review**, **review**, **review** – LOVE ME, DAMN IT!

**Notes:**

(1) Naruto holds his sword in the same reverse grip as Galen Marek from SW: The Force Unleashed**.**

(2) Everyone seems to have forgotten Naruto and Kyūbi already came to an agreement. Remind me, why did Naruto spent so much time after that struggling to control the fox? I mean, hey, I understand he would have to fight the beast for dominance at some point, but why didn't they work together in the meanwhile like Kirabi and Hachibi did? Granted, those two were actually friends, but so long as there was an agreement established, why didn't Naruto and Kyūbi see eye to eye on that?

(3) We never actually got an explanation why Tsunade failed to save Dan's life. For the sake of the story I'm going with this: they were separated on the battlefield, there were no medical ninja on Dan's team and by the time news reached Tsunade, she was too far away to make it on time and save his life.

(4) My initial goal for this story was to 'right the wrongs' of canon. Granted, the 'wrongs' I am rectifying are only my opinion wrong to begin with. I never thought there was anything wrong with the way Naruto saved Tsunade. In fact, I thought that was pretty bad ass. And as they say, don't fix it if it isn't broken.

(5) How come the first time Naruto used the Rasengan on Kabuto it looked so bloody awesome? They should've kept it like that. Oh, well that's what fan fiction is for, huh? The standard Rasengan will remain the same; however this Rasengan is a different form of it: Haisuru Rasengan AKA the Banishing Rasengan. More on this in later chapters.

...

**Jutsu Used:**

(Chakura Mesu – Chakra Scalpel) - B rank, supplementary. This medical technique forms one's chakra into a small, sharp blade. This can then be used for highly accurate incisions necessary for surgeries and anatomical dissections. Unlike regular scalpels, the chakra scalpel can actually make cuts inside the body without actually creating an open wound, limiting the risks of an infection. The chakra scalpel can also be used offensively, although it requires great precision to be effective. Because of this requirement, using the chakra scalpel offensively is highly unusual.

(Hitotachi no Tensei - Sword Stroke of Genius) – ? rank, offensive, short range. Sasaki's original attack which relies on great speed and precision to swiftly deliver a killing blow. It used as a one-shot finisher, hence the name of the technique.

(Yonte Satsujin – Four Arm Murder) - ? rank, offensive, short range. Utilising four arms, Sasaki rushes forward to deliver this devastating move. When within range, he will slice in four different directions to deliver an instantly killing move.

(Yume no Hara – Field of Dreams) – C rank, offensive, ? range. Using his Doryū Taiga in tandem with explosive caltrops given to him by Shiho, Naruto will set up a trap to capture and destroy in opponents in one fell swoop. **Parent jutsu:** Doryū Taiga (Earth Flow River).

(Ninpō: Dokugiri – Ninja Art: Poison Mist) – B rank, offensive, mid range. Chakra is kneaded within the body and then changed into special chemical substances. It is then ejected through the mouth as poison mist, usually purple. The poison's ability to kill is tremendous, as even just breathing in a small amount will mean the end of the target's life. As this technique combines ninjutsu, chemistry, and medical knowledge, using it requires fine chakra control and advanced ability in medical ninjutsu. This jutsu is classed as a kinjutsu due to its difficult and huge risk.


	8. Chapter 8: The Future Hokage

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 13-12-11_

_Updated: 18-12-11_

_**Oh motherfucking snap! As of 13-12-2011, Naruto: Potential Realised has gotten over a 100k hits. I'm fucking ecstatic, hence the early update! **_

_**EDIT: All mistakes due to the early release should've been taken out by now - I think. Thank you goku90504 for the helpful PM.**_

* * *

><p>CH8: The Future Hokage<p>

* * *

><p><em>Thud!<em>

Naruto lied on the ground face-first, unmoving and unresponsive to Shizune's calls. The brunette kneeled by the boy in seconds and rolled him to his back. "Tsunade-sama!" The older woman gave no response, much to her frustration. Shizune grabbed the kunai Kabuto dropped and tore open Naruto's top. Then looking at Tsunade again, she cast aside the kunai and her hands went through a string of hand seals. "Shōsen Jutsu!" Her hands glowed green with the Mythical Palm Technique; placing her hands on the teenager's chest, Shizune immediately detected the problem.

Naruto's heart stopped beating. Whatever Kabuto had done to the young chūnin, had affected his heart. Shizune concentrated on restoring the blood flow as fast she could.

"Hang in there, Naruto-kun," Shizune said to the unconscious blonde. Frowning with concentration, Shizune realised her efforts were doing little good. "What's wrong with you, Naruto-kun?"

From the sidelines, Tsunade twitched. "Tendons," she muttered.

Shizune looked relieved; Tsunade seemed to finally regain her composure. "Tsunade-sama, tell me what to do!"

Tsunade nodded and crawled over, probably not trusting her legs to hold her weight as she was still shaking somewhat and colour had yet to return to her skin. "Kabuto used a Chakra Scalpel to cut his heart tendons. You're not concentrating on the right area." Tsunade frowned with concentration; then, nodding with conviction she gently grabbed Shizune's wrists and redirected her efforts to the right area.

"That damnable fool and his meddling!"

Their heads snapped up to the sound of Kabuto's voice. He emerged slowly from the bellowing dirt cloud caused by Naruto's Rasengan; he walked slowly and awkwardly. The lint keeping his hair in a ponytail was destroyed, leaving his hair in a long grey mane. His glasses were destroyed and he cast them aside. His purple tunic was, for the most part, torn to shreds, leaving his chest bare. It allowed the medical kunoichi to get a good view of his body regenerating as he wound caused by Naruto's Rasengan swirled to a close.

Kabuto sneered at Shizune's disbelief. "Did you really think that fool could beat me? How he managed to defeat Sasaki, I do not know, but I'm not going to give him a chance to get back on his feet."

Kabuto bent to pick up his weapon; Shizune immediately regretted throwing it aside. "I'll kill all of you!" Kabuto cackled with an insane laughter.

Suddenly not so rigid in his movements, he rushed forward, aiming a killing blow at Naruto's unconscious form.

"NO!" Shizune screamed, her Shōsen Jutsu faltering as she protected Naruto with her body. She closed her eyes.

When no pain came, she looked up to the sound of blood spatter. Tsunade's eyes widened: Tsunade had moved faster than she had ever done in order to protect them, and did so with her body. She bit back a scream as Kabuto's kunai plunged through her chest. Surely, it was going to kill her. And if his twisted smile was any indication, Kabuto thought so too.

He didn't smile for long however as, to both Kabuto and Shizune, Tsunade still somehow managed to swing a punch to his face with such force it resounded through the air and Kabuto flew backwards like a grey and purple missile.

Blood oozed out Tsunade's chest. She gripped the kunai handle and ruthlessly ripped it out. She did not even flinch as she did it, a true testament to her resilience.

'That kid... He – he's just like Nawaki!' the woman realised with a stronger sense of clarity than she had ever experienced before. 'I... I have to protect him, even at the cost of my own life! I won't let him die!'

"Why won't you just die, Tsunade? Your time has come!" Kabuto pulled out several kunai and threw them at Tsunade, who did not move. She refused to let her assistant and Naruto die.

Tsunade held up her arms in cross-shaped guard and let out an unsuccessfully restrained scream of pain as kunai plunged into her arms, chest and legs. Kabuto gave a scream of outrage and rushed forward to finish her – or so he thought. Even in her condition, Tsunade easily countered him, gripping his kunai-toting hand and directing it upwards as she drove her knee in Kabuto's stomach and her elbow in his back.

_CRACK!_

It was a sickening sight to behold as Kabuto's ribs broke and healed themselves within seconds. Tsunade dashed backwards and fell to knee. "You will not hurt them!"

Kabuto rushed forward, thinking she had finally run out of steam but was once again in for a surprise as she bull-tackled him; her shoulder drove in his stomach, taking the air out of his lungs and sending him flying a good thirty feet. _When was she going to die?_

"Tsu- Tsunade-sama..." Tears welled up in Shizune's eyes with relief and pride in her teacher who had been a mother figure of sorts to her too. "You're so strong..." She said as she looked at Tsunade's back.

"Look after that boy," Tsunade said in a steady, albeit panting voice. She did not turn look over her shoulder, but Shizune could tell she had a determined look in her eyes; her voice was a clear indicative. "That boy... he reminds me of them." She gave a soft chuckle. "I guess Jiraiya was right after all," she said as she got to her feet as Kabuto once again approached them, a psychotic expression on his face. "That's an interesting technique you got there."

Kabuto paused momentarily. Looking down at his wounds, which were already healing, he looked back to Tsunade with an air of superiority. "I have long since surpassed you in the field of medicinal ninjutsu, Tsunade-sama!" He gave an uncharacteristically loud laugh. "Your time is over. Soon the world will know a new number one medical shinobi – me! Kabuto!"

Tsunade's expression was stony; she gave him a hard stare but did not seem offended. "Perhaps," she said after a moment. "The new generation overtaking the older generation, such is the cycle of life. Years ago I surpassed the world's great medical specialist before me, and someday I will be surpassed by another."

"Oh, but you see, that day has already come!" Kabuto declared. "My In'yu Shōmetsu jutsu far surpasses any other documented healing jutsu in the world!" Tsunade frowned at him but said nothing, prompting Kabuto to laugh at her. "You see, Tsunade-sama, my jutsu allows my body to heal any wound! You can break my bones; you can flay my skin or even rupture my organs as many times as you want, but I shall not die!"

Tsunade's lips twitched; Kabuto picked up on it. "Finally able to realise the genius of my jutsu, are we? You said it yourself; you will one day be surpassed-"

"I never said it was going to be you," Tsunade cut him off. She smiled this time, akin to a grin. "That's a useful jutsu you've got get there, Kabuto, I must admit to that. BUT," she pressed before Kabuto could retort, "Your technique is nothing compared to mine."

"That's impossible!" Kabuto was outraged.

"Just watch," Tsunade replied confidently as she formed the tiger hand seal. "You have potential, I'll give you that, but you've got a long way to go and many lessons to learn. One of those lessons is this: just because it hasn't been documented, does not mean there isn't a better jutsu out there, because there always is. Let me show you! Infūin: Kai!"

Tsunade's chakra spiked and burst out of her every pore, shrouding her in blue orb of pure energy. Kabuto's eyes widened as the wind kicked up with enough force to blow his hair back. "Wh- _What is this?"_ Kabuto screamed.

The chakra receded and a red glow washed over Tsunade. The diamond tattoo on her forehead bled out in a flowerily ink pattern. Tsunade's brows furrowed with concentration as she manipulated the massive volumes of chakra now at her disposal. "Sōsō Saisei!"

This was _her _ace in the hole. The Creation Rebirth: the absolute pinnacle of medical ninjutsu. The ultimate regeneration technique. With the vast volumes of chakra accumulated over the years, stored in the Yin Seal, the mark on her forehead at once, her body's cell division would be forcibly stimulated by proteins, reconstructing all organs and all tissues making up the human body. The technique itself did not regenerate the old cells, but rather it hastened the creation of new ones through division. Even if her vital organs were so gravely injured that they could no longer function, the Creation Rebirth would instantly restore them. As long as she had chakra, it would be impossible for her to die by any means short of beheading. It was no immortality, but she sure came close to it.

Almost instantaneously, her wounds began to heal themselves, hissing with white steam as they seamlessly closed. In matter of moments, the kunai still lodged in her body popped out as her wounds regenerated her torn flesh and tendons. By the end of it, she looked healthier than she did before they even started fighting.

"_Un- Unbelievable!"_ Kabuto exclaimed.

Tsunade paid him no attention, smearing her thumb over her own blood and going through a string of hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Tsunade slammed her hand on the ground and channelled copious amounts of chakra into the technique.

_POOF!_

A giant slug appeared before them, easily the as tall as the Hokage Tower; predominately white in colour with three blue streaks running down its body.

"Katsuyu," Tsunade barked at her familiar. "I need you to divide yourself in four. Heal Naruto with my chakra, and then go help the toads. Heal them too while you're at it."

**"Did you say Nawaki, Tsunade-sama?"** Katsuyu repeated, glancing at her summoner and then to Naruto and Shizune. **"He looks like him."**

Tsunade nodded and smiled ever so slightly. "His name is _Naruto_. Take care of him for me, will you? Use my chakra to treat his wounds."

Katsuyu nodded obediently. **"Understood, Tsunade-sama."** Katsuyu's massive figure distorted for a moment. A smaller version of her split apart and moved to Naruto, covering him with its body. The Katsuyu-clone glowed bright blue as it channelled Tsunade's chakra into the youth's body to heal him.

Tsunade gave a grateful nod to Katsuyu. When the summon did not move, she gave it a confusing look. "What is it, Katsuyu?"

**"It's good to have you back, Tsunade-sama," **Katsuyu said with her soft voice.

"It's good to be back," Tsunade smiled at her familiar. "Now, go! We'll catch up later. You need to stop Manda and Gamabunta from getting any closer to the city or they'll destroy it."

**"Just like old times,"** Katsuyu giggled. Then the massive slug split up in hundreds of miniature copies of herself and set off to intercept the Serpent King and Toad Chief.

Tsunade smiled nostalgically for a moment as the slug took off. Then, turning to Kabuto, she scowled. "I was distracted for a moment there. You should have taken the chance to escape."

"Ha, as if!" Kabuto dashed forward with his Chakura Mesu blazing both hands. "I'll simply kill you!"

Tsunade smiled wryly. "Your arrogance is unfounded; it will be your downfall, amateur," she told him as she sidestepped his dual lunges and chopped him in the back of his neck. "Ranshinshō!"

-ooo-

(Gamabunta & Gamahiro VS Manda & Kurome)

Tremors raced through the earth as the giant summons fought as Gamabunta and Manda continued to battle it out to settle their age old dispute. **"Take that, and that, you filthy snake bastard!"** Gamabunta stabbed at Manda, who despite his massive frame, coiled around his strikes, suffering only minor grazings. **"I never liked ya, not even when we were on the same side!"**

**"The sentiment is reciprocated, toad scum!"** Manda retorted angrily, sinking his fangs in Gamabunta's weapon-brandishing hand.

**"Grr, that's just one of the reasons I hate your slimy guts!"** Gamabunta bellowed as he began to pummel his free hand against Manda's tough scales. **"You always have to talk like you wear a fucking monocle, don't you? And then there's that whole royalty bullshit! You're a bottom feeder, snake. You're no King!"**

The bosses of their respective kin struggled violently, moving closer and closer to the city. Manda trashed and destroyed his surroundings with mere flicks of his tail and Gamabunta jumped and swung his dosu sword and cut through the landscape as he tried to stab Manda with it.

**"DIE!"** the summons said simultaneously as they fought. **"You first!"** they said once again unison. **"STOP THAT!"** Gamabunta croaked as Manda hissed the same words.

**"Kurome!"** Manda called to the other serpent. **"Kill that filthy toad and come help me deal with this vermin!"**

**"VERMIN?"** Gamabunta repeated with outrage. **"FIGURES YOU'D CALL YOUR FILTHY SPAWN TO HELP YOU, COWARD! I'M GOING TO WEAR YOU LIKE A BELT ONCE I'M DONE WITH YOU!"**

**"I WILL END YOU, GAMABUNTA!"** Manda screamed with fury.

**"Father!"** Manda's son, Kurome, screeched as he attempted to flee his opponent and come to his father's aid.

**"I am your opponent, snake!" **Gamahiro jumped higher in the air and landed on Kurome, plunging his dual blade into the ground.

Kurome slithered evasively and coiled around Gamahiro with a furious hiss. **"You are no match for me, you fool! DIE, the Prince of Serpents demands it!" **Kurome pulled his body tight as it constricted around Gamahiro, attempting to suffocate the toad.

**"Gamayudan!"** Volumes of oil gushed out of Gamahiro's mouth and bounced off Kurome's scales and coated him in his own Toad Oil Bullet as he had intended.

Noticing a slick substance on his scales, Kurome hissed angrily. **"What is this, toad filth? You dare to mock me?"**

Gamahiro have no response and jumped upwards, easily escaping Kurome's coils due to the oil slickening the scales. **"RRBIT!"** Gamahiro crashed down on the snake, landing on top of Kurome's head and squashing it under his weight.

Blood spattered in all directions in a gory shower that left the surrounding area and Gamahiro covered in snake intestines.

**"**_**MY SON!**_**"** Manda screamed, beating off Gamabunta with a fell aimed flick of his tail. **"YOU!"** the King of Serpents bellowed at Gamahiro in a furious hiss.

**"Gamahiro, move!"** Gamabunta yelled at his subordinate.

Unfortunately for the toad, Gamahiro had been bitten numerous times by Manda's son, and unlike the Toad Chief, he had not built up a resistance against snake poisons, thus the samurai-esque toad fell to his side with a dull croak and a massive crash.

Manda bared his fangs, his mouth widening so wide it appeared he was about to swallow Gamahiro whole.

A green acidic rain cast down with pinpoint accuracy between Gamahiro and the Serpent King. Recognising the technique, Manda and Gamabunta both turned to see Katsuyu in the midst of recalling thousands of copies of herself. Several of her copies deviated and reached Gamahiro and began healing him.

**"Katsuyu!" **Gamabunta acknowledged with a greeting croak. **"Just in time! I need a snake skin wallet, help me out!"**

Katsuyu shook her massive head. **"My apologies, Gamabunta-san, but I am not here to fight. I have come to stop both of you from reaching the city."**

**"Oh, right, we did get pretty close, huh!"** Gamabunta could see the city of Tanzaku Gai with ease. **"Only a hop or two away. Close one!"**

-ooo-

(Jiraiya VS Orochimaru)

_BOOM! CRASH! CLASH!_

Jiraiya came to a grinding stop in a crouch on the ground like a toad, fingers dug deep into the soil to stop himself. Despite its many advantages, Jiraiya wasn't partial to his Sage Mode as it gave him a more toad-like appearance; he now had longer marks along the sides of his face, a goatee, a larger nose with warts, and webbed hands and feet and beady toad-like eyes.

"And I thought you couldn't look more grotesque!" Jiraiya said to Orochimaru with a grin.

After being overwhelmed by his Sage Mode, Orochimaru was forced to reveal his true form: a giant, white-scaled snake made up of a multitude of smaller snakes, with long and spiky black hair. He had a scaled face, black eye markings and a pointed chin. Like Jiraiya's Sage Mode, this form gave Orochimaru incredible physical power, making him capable of easily destroying the forestry that surrounded them with mere flicks of his tail. "You're one to talk, Jiraiya!"

**"How dare you, Jiraiya-chan is a perfectly nice boy!"** Shima screeched at the giant serpent whilst Fukasaku added: **"Indeed, scoundrel!" **Furious, the toad elders formed ram hand seals and channelled chakra into Jiraiya's scalp.

Jiraiya's hair grew in volume and spikiness thanks to Ma and Pa's influence, imbedding his hair with sage energy as Jiraiya aimed at Orochimaru. "Senpō: Kebari Senbon!"

A shower of hair needles pelted Orochimaru. As a testament to the power of the technique, the needles that bounced of Orochimaru's iron-hard scales and ricocheted in random directions easily penetrated boulders and drove through trees.

"Gah!" Orochimaru exclaimed with frustration. "Such useless techniques will not work against me, fools! My scales are impenetrable!" Orochimaru's massive mouth widened and a wave of acid flew at Jiraiya.

The sage did not move, confident in his companions' skill as Ma and Pa went through a string of hand seals and their cheeks swelled up. **"Senpō: Fūton Sunabokori!"**

Concentrated jets of wind erupted from their mouths, easily blowing away the acidic substance, redirecting and casting some of it on Orochimaru's scales and in his eyes, causing the serpent to scream and trash with pain and fury. **"Jiraiya-chan, go now!"** they said in unison.

"You got it!" Jiraiya blitzed forward and jumped high into the air above Orochimaru, who continued to trash as his eyes regenerated from the damage done by the acid. Ma, Pa and Jiraiya simultaneously went through a string of hand seals as Jiraiya continued to soar to the sky, positively propelled by the sage energy. "Senpō: Goemon!" the three shouted in unison as they collaborated their efforts: Jiraiya spat a stream of oil, Ma fire and Pa wind.

The results were spectacular. A truly terrifying sight to behold, Jiraiya thought as he stuck to a tree as the three of them contained their jutsu in a concentrated stream form to minimise the widespread damage the technique would have otherwise caused.

As the three elements combined, they formed a single jet of oil at a temperature of a thousand degrees. The super heated oil jet was like an inferno of such magnitude, leafs got caught on fire by mere proximity.

Orochimaru's screams were terrible; louder than any Jiraiya had ever heard before. The sage rarely resorted to using this technique, but on the one or two occasions he had used it in battle, his victims were dead before they could even feel the pain of their bodies dissolving like a block of butter in a tub of acid. Orochimaru did not have that luxury however as his scales proved to be so incredibly tough.

As Orochimaru screamed, Jiraiya felt a twinge of pity for his former ally. He had not wanted to use this technique, but the battle had raged on long enough. Unlike the serpent, his body was all natural and tired much faster.

The Great White Serpent form began to recede, Jiraiya could tell. The sage released his chakra grip on the tree and dropped down the tree's thirty feet height like it was nothing.

The Goemon had sunk through the earth itself and was nowhere to be seen. Steam expelled from the crevices, obscuring his view. Jiraiya didn't need his eyes though. His Sage Mode allowed him to sense all living things within a few hundred feet radius. Perhaps more if he took the time to perfect his technique some day.

Jiraiya calmly moved to the location of the foulest source he could feel, which was undoubtedly Orochimaru. Even if he was alive, Jiraiya doubted the serpent could put up much of a fight.

**"Be careful, Jiraiya-chan," **Shima warned him, a disturbed expression on her face. **"Something doesn't feel right," **Fukasaku added with a nod.

Jiraiya formed a hand seal and blew a strong gust of air. It wasn't his element, but even the basic wind manipulation was strengthened by his sage energy.

"Ugh," Jiraiya made a distasteful noise as he found his old ally glaring at him.

The serpent was naked; his skin was covered in green fluids as he emerged out of his former body, now a mere heap of skin. "Ninpō: Kōtō Saisei," Orochimaru breathed raggedly. His chakra levels had dropped considerably, Jiraiya could tell. Not only had he been in pure agony and on the verge of dying, he had to force all of his chakra in this last ditch effort ace in the hole. "You've won this round, Jiraiya, but we will meet again," Orochimaru vowed with nothing but deep, unadulterated hatred in his eyes.

"No, we won't," Jiraiya replied coldly as he approached him to deal the killing blow. Orochimaru would not be able to dodge him at this speed, not with his near bout with fatality.

Or so he thought.

Out of nowhere, Orochimaru leaped forward and transformed into an _actual snake_; a rare white serpent, ten feet long and two feet wide, and dug deep into the ground with such speed Jiraiya could hardly believe he had it in him.

**"After him, Jiraiya! He's heading back to the others!"** Fukasaku informed, his eyes closed as he traced Orochimaru's foul life signature. **"What are you waiting for, GO!" **Shima added.

"Right!"

-ooo-

(Tsunade VS Kabuto)

Tsunade lightly danced around the battlefield as Kabuto rushed after her with dual kunai, lunging left, right and centre with an ever increasing frustration and far more difficulty than he had ever experienced. Tsunade had a sadistic streak he wished he had not provoked in her. Her Body Pathway Derangement technique, the Ranshinshō, had messed up his body's entire nervous system with a lightning chakra charged chop to the back of his neck. Though with his genius intellect, it only took him a few minutes to figure out how to move his body again, Kabuto couldn't muster enough chakra control to activate his Chakura Mesu and thus had to resort to using his weapons.

Oh, how he regretted toying around with her assistant – why hadn't he killed her and the Sannin when he had the chance?

Kabuto regretted his arrogance now. Tsunade kept dodging his attacks effortlessly with her resurfaced abilities. Every now and then she would counter him, not with her mountain crushing punches, but with strategic blows to his body to inflict great pain without knocking him out. Though his body would still automatically heal him for as long as there was chakra in his reserves, this also meant he would be put through far more pain until he could no longer heal.

"Time to end this," Tsunade said as she came to a sudden stop and snatched his wrists. "Enough playing around." She applied enough pressure to break them like twigs and forced him drop his elongated kunai.

Kabuto screamed. "_I'll kill you!_"

Tsunade shut him up with a fierce head butt. Kabuto gasped in pain and Tsunade raised her leg as he fell backwards, kicking him in the chin with enough force to rocket him to the sky. She followed him, jumping high into the air and raising her leg once more for the final blow. "Tsūkenkyaku!"

All of Kabuto's organs ruptured under the crushing blow of Tsunade's heel as she drove it down; his bones broke and healed almost instantly, and then broke _again_ as he plummeted into ground, forming a massive crater.

_BOOM!_

Tsunade landed lightly on her feet and frowned. "You're still alive?" She sounded genuinely surprised when she heard him groaning pitifully.

With a swipe of her hand, the dirt cloud no longer obscured her vision as she descended the crater.

Kabuto was a bloody, _mangled_ mess. He looked like he had jumped on top of _several_ explosive tags. With a mere glance, Tsunade detected the nature of his injuries: his In'yu Shōmetsu had focused on restoring his vital organs, but ran out of chakra, thus leaving the rest of his body badly broken. 'Serves you right,' she thought.

"Chakura Mesu," Tsunade's hand flared with a scalpel formed out of chakra, "I suppose the kinder thing to do now, would be to put you out of your misery."

Just as she approached the dying prodigy to kill him _a massive snake erupted from the ground._

Tsunade did a double take as she recognised Orochimaru's eyes on the snake. "Orochimaru?" Tsunade exclaimed.

Orochimaru's mouth widened in his snake form and swallowed Kabuto whole, who smiled faintly at Tsunade, probably vowing revenge some day. Then the snake transformed into Orochimaru, still naked and his hair slick with green fluids. "You will regret this, Tsunade! Mark my words! I will have my revenge!"

"That's fine by me, Orochimaru!" Tsunade declared, pointing her finger at him with a hand on her hip. "And I will take you on as many times as you want. I will never permit you to harm any Konoha shinobi anymore, for I am the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, like my grandfather, granduncle and _our _sensei before me! Their legacy lives on in me, Orochimaru," she smiled thinking of a certain blonde chūnin, "And it will one day live in the child behind me. For as long as their Will of Fire lives on in the next generation, you will never win, Orochimaru!"

"WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT, TSUNADE!" Orochimaru snarled with fury. "Mark my words!" he screamed at her, jumping high into the air and delving into the ground as he transformed into his snake form.

Tsunade made a move to apprehend the snake that was now Orochimaru, but the slippery reptile dug deep into the ground and disappeared. She sensed him reappear many feet away, widening his mouth again to swallow a barely conscious Sasaki.

"What the-" Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she looked to her left, sensing Jiraiya closing in rapidly. Her eyes widened at the sight of him soaring to the air in his Sage Mode.

_Thud!_

Jiraiya landed in a toad-like fashion; the earth formed a deep impression under his hands and feet. "Damn it, he got away!"

**"It's okay, Jiraiya-chan,"** Shima told him comfortingly. Fukasaku nodded, albeit a more conflicted with the notion of letting Orochimaru go. **"Another time perhaps, son."**

"Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked, shocked with the sage's appearance. "You managed to beat him, huh?"

**"Oh, so this is the girl you've been talking about all this time, Jiraiya-chan? Ooh, she is beautiful! A little young though, don't you think?"** Shima smiled at an unnerved Tsunade.

"Now's not the time, Ma," Jiraiya sweat-dropped.

**"Nonsense, the snake got away,"** Fukasaku interjected. **"My word! Is that Gamabunta-kun over there, fighting Manda? Those two never did get along very well..."**

Jiraiya nodded and then turned to Tsunade with a smile. "So you've finally gotten over your fear of blood, huh?" She nodded but did not elaborate, prompting Jiraiya to ask: "What happened?"

Tsunade smiled with a glance over her shoulder at Katsuyu's clone, Shizune and Naruto. "He did."

"Yeah, he tends to have that effect on people," Jiraiya laughed.

To his amazement, Tsunade joined him. The two laughed for what seemed forever. Now, there wasn't anything inherently funny about the situation, but that didn't stop them. It had been far too long since they laughed together, too long since they enjoyed each other's company like this.

"I'll accept the job, Jiraiya," Tsunade said with a nod as she smiled. She seemed content with her decision; as though it was something she knew she was destined to do. "You were right after all."

"About what?" Jiraiya asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

"Everything," she replied much to his pleasure. "About the kid, our bet, and even the part about you being a lousy Kage."

Jiraiya gave her a comically dry look; she laughed at his stupidity. "You were especially right about that kid... Uzumaki Naruto. He's exactly like them."

"Like Nawaki and Dan?"

She nodded. "And every bit like his mother." Jiraiya gave her a questionable look and she shook her head. "He may be a spitting image of his father, Jiraiya, but he takes after his mother."

"I guess you're right," Jiraiya admitted with a thoughtful expression. He then addressed the toads, "Thanks for the help, Ma, Pa. The coast is all clear."

**"Now you make sure you stay away from that boy, Jiraiya-chan,"** Shima said sternly in a motherly fashion **"Oh, stop smothering him, will you, woman!" **Fukasaku said to his wife. **"It's clearly that other's boy fault. We ought to talk to his parents!"**

"I'm fifty years old, Ma, Pa!" Jiraiya replied indignantly as the two toads bickered amongst themselves about Jiraiya's poor life decisions.

Tsunade laughed at Jiraiya's expense as he was forced to revert to his regular appearance on his own whilst Ma and Pa continued to argue, sniping at one another on his shoulders.

**"Is that who I think it is?" **Fukasaku asked a moment later, motioning towards the unconscious blond. **"Well if it's isn't Minato Junior!" **Shima croaked happily. **"You must introduce him to us some time. Bring him over and I'll cook you a nice meal."**

**"Yes, indeed. Unfortunately we must be going now. Take care you two!"** Fukasaku and Shima formed identical hand seals and disappeared with two tiny pillars of smoke.

_Poof! Poof!_

"Katsuyu, how's the kid?" Tsunade asked her summon.

**"He's in stable condition, Tsunade-sama!"** replied the miniature copy of Katsuyu. **"Though you may want to run some diagnostics sometime soon."**

Tsunade nodded to her summon. "Will do. Are Gamabunta and Manda still going at it?"

**"No, Tsunade-sama,"** the summon informed. **"Once I stopped them fighting, Manda swallowed the remains of his son and disappeared. Gamabunta and Gamahiro also returned home once I was done healing them."**

"Good. You can leave now," said the Godaime. "Thank you for help."

**"It was my pleasure, Tsunade-sama,"** Katsuyu bowed her head low. **"Till next time!"** She then disappeared by means of Reverse Summoning, returning to wherever she had come from.

_Poof!_

Tsunade stooped by Naruto and sighed. "This belongs to you now, brat. Look after it." She took of her necklace, the very same that had once belonged to her grandfather, the Shodai Hokage of Konoha, and lifted Naruto's head to place it on him. "If you lose it, you'll be in big trouble." For a moment, Tsunade could not discern between the blonde and her little brother; she subconsciously pushed back locks she deep down knew ought to be brown, not blonde.

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Jiraiya sniggered at her rare tender display of emotion. "I thought you hated kids."

"Shut up, Jiraiya," Tsunade barked at him, snapping back into reality. "Why don't you revert back to your other form, you looked a lot less hideous like that."

Jiraiya's smile faltered, he looked hurt. "That's cold."

"So is the ice pack you'll be putting on your _special place_ if you don't shut the hell up!"

"Feisty!" Jiraiya challenged. "It's a real contrast to your bedroom behaviour, Tsunade-hime!"

The following moments Jiraiya spent running for his dear life as Tsunade chased him down and hurled chunks of earth at him whilst Shizune looked after Naruto with a dry look on her face as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

-ooo-

(Two Days Later)

Naruto woke up days later in the middle of the day. He found himself to be in one of Tanzaku Gai's many inns, lying in a bed and strapped to an IV drip. Shizune had her back turned to him as she flipped the pages in a medical book.

Naruto groaned, feeling oddly stiff as Shizune looked over her shoulder at him with a kind smile. "Oh, good, you're up," she said.

"How long have I been out for?" Naruto asked as he tried to recall his memories of what happened. He felt something unfamiliar around his neck, and looking down he saw the Shodai's necklace hanging around his neck. It jogged his memories somewhat as Naruto remembered fighting Kabuto and using the Rasengan on him. "What happened?"

"We had to put you in a medically induced coma," Shizune revealed as she poured a glass of water. "Don't worry," she added quickly in response to Naruto's wide-eyed expression. "When you attacked Kabuto with your Rasengan, he managed to strike you in the heart with a Chakra Scalpel. He severed several tendons, which stopped your heart from beating and made it impossible for you to breathe. We managed to repair the damage easily enough, fortunately."

"Then why did you put me in a coma?" Naruto asked, confused with the situation he had just woken up to. He could feel a headache coming.

Shizune smiled reassuringly. "Jiraiya suggested it. He knew you wouldn't remain in bed for several days on end whilst your wounds healed. **(1) **Tsunade put you in a coma and performed several body vitalising jutsu on you to quicken the process. I have been checking up on you ever since we moved you here."

"Thank you," Naruto said with genuine gratitude and a twinge of guilt for putting her at such discomfort for his own sake.

Shizune waved him off. "It's no problem, Naruto-kun. It's actually rather nice to be doing something with medical ninjutsu skills other than curing hangovers or stomach aches."

Speaking of which, Naruto lied back down. He felt a mixture of both hunger and nausea. "What happened?" Naruto asked as Shizune moved over, having noticed his discomfort and sitting on the stool next to his bed, green chakra covering her hand. She ran a diagnostic jutsu with her Mythical Palm jutsu for a moment. "Well, after you passed out, Tsunade regained her senses and finished off Kabuto – he had some kid of medical ninjutsu that healed his wound almost instantly, it was the reason why he managed to do you some damage in return," Shizune hurriedly added as she saw Naruto frown with confusion. It seemed to only upset Naruto as he looked angry with himself over having been defeated even after using his strongest technique. "You have absolutely no reason to be disappointed with yourself, Naruto-kun. I may not look it, but I am actually a real Konoha jōnin and I couldn't beat him either. You did tremendous though, you managed to do that much damage after beating your own opponent."

"I had help," Naruto interjected, though he did not elaborate, thus Shizune did not press the matter. "What about Gamahiro-chan?" Naruto asked, feeling some shame he did not ask about his familiar sooner.

"Gamahiro-san is fine, he managed to kill Manda's son before he left. According to Katsuyu-san – Tsunade's own summon," she explained. "Gamahiro-san had some injuries but managed to win at the end. He returned to his home after Katsuyu healed him."

Naruto nodded his head and leaned back, groaning as Shizune's green chakra lifted the nauseous feeling in his stomach. "I'm guessing Ero-sennin dealt with Orochimaru?" Naruto inferred, to which nodded.

"Neither Tsunade or myself saw it, but Orochimaru was on the retreat. He came back to retrieve Kabuto and the other – yes, I believe your opponent was alive, Naruto-kun."

"_Great,_" Naruto said sarcastically. "I should've made sure he was dead..."

"But you chose to save us instead, and for that I am grateful, as is Tsunade-sama," Shizune reminded him.

"I could've at least sent a clone..." Naruto grumbled, but Shizune shook her head at the notion. "There was no time," she said firmly. "You did what you thought was right. Even if he survived, you still beat him, Naruto-kun. No one can take that away from you."

Naruto smiled slightly, she had a knack for reassuring people it seemed. "Then what happened?"

Shizune's green healing chakra disappeared and she sat up straight on the stool. "I'm not quite sure how to phrase it, as I can I hardly believe it myself, but apparently Tsunade has accepted the position of Hokage."

"WHAT?" Naruto sat up so fast the nausea came back with a vengeance. He fought of the urge to hurl, forcing him to concentrate on Shizune. "Hokage? _Her _of all people?"

"Well, she is the Shodai's granddaughter and the Nidaime's grandniece," Shizune offered kindly. "Didn't you know that?" she inquired as a look of shock settled on Naruto's face.

"No, I didn't." Naruto then face-palmed as he came to a realisation. "_Of course she is!_ Why else would she have the Shodai's necklace?" Naruto held the emerald in his hand, noting he felt an odd pulse. He quickly dismissed it, crediting the pulsation to his nausea as it disappeared and did not reappear when Naruto let go and held it again. 'Strange...' Naruto shook his head, focusing at the matter at hand. "Hold on, I thought she didn't want anything to do with Konoha! What, with her attitude towards us, the old man – the idea of returning with us to Konoha? What changed her mind?"

"You did," Shizune replied, smiling kindly at him. "You are very much like them you know."

Having no idea whom she was referring to, Naruto could only reply with an intelligent, "Huh?" Then realising what she was saying, Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "ME? What did I do?"

Shizune's kind smile was beginning to irk him a little. "You restored her faith in people, Naruto-kun." She chuckled a little. "Years ago, Tsunade-sama's younger brother, Nawaki died. He was about your age, perhaps a little younger. His dream was to become Hokage like his grandfather and granduncle, but..." her smile turned faint and mirthless, "He died on his first mission. Tsunade-sama had forbidden him to fight in the war, but he signed up to be a messenger behind her back and died a horrible death. It changed her forever. His body was so torn up all they could retrieve was the very same necklace you are wearing right now."

Naruto was wide-eyed by now, but did not interrupt, allowing Shizune to continue. "Then she met my uncle, Dan. Like Nawaki, he too wanted to become Hokage to protect his friends. I imagine Tsunade-sama was taken with him as they fell in love. She decided to give him the necklace her beloved brother Nawaki had worn. For a while she was happy, but it didn't last, unfortunately. Dan died on the battlefield not long after receiving the necklace. There weren't enough trained medical shinobi available, despite Tsunade-sama's months of campaigning for more funds on training medical shinobi after Nawaki died. By the time Tsunade-sama arrived... Dan was too far gone." Shizune appeared to be on the verge of tears; Naruto wanted to comfort her, but she shook her haid as she regained her composure. "He died in her arms, and Tsunade-sama blamed herself. It wasn't her fault of course, but I think she believed she had caused his death by giving him the Shodai's necklace. After all, all those who worn it died at a young age, including the Shodai himself. It convinced Tsunade-sama the necklace was cursed, so she decided to wear it for the rest of her life. ... She gave up on believing in people."

Naruto's expression was unreadable as he mulled over what he had just learned. 'So that's why she's this way,' Naruto thought to himself. 'She's just as damaged as Jiraiya – hell, they all are. Her, Jiraiya, Orchimaru... They're all just equally as damaged.' Naruto came to a second realisation as he pulled the blankets of him. "I'm feeling much better," Naruto assured her, noticing he was wearing his boxers and shirt. "I have something to do." Naruto found the rest of his clothes neatly folded in a chair nearby and pulled on his trousers and sandals. "Thanks again, Shizune-neechan!" he shouted as he exited the room, leaving Shizune confused.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto didn't reply and ran down the road just as the sun was going down. He knew exactly where to go.

-ooo-

(Elsewhere in Tanzaku Gai)

Jiraiya and Tsunade were seated by the same inn they were last time. The damage had been repaired over the past few days. The two Sannin were conversing with unusual smiles on their faces, looking awfully friendly with one another and seated much closer than usual.

They continued to talk at low tones as other patrons looked on, some smiling amongst them Jiraiya placed his hands on Tsunade's and raised his eyebrows suggestively and leaned into whisper something in the ear.

Tsunade smiled and stood up, taking his hand in hers and leading the way. As the Sannin moved the exit they heard a familiar voice shouting outside.

"RASENGAN!"

Naruto came crashing through the side of the building, needlessly creating another entrance as he destroyed part of the building with his Rasengan. "THERE YOU ARE!" he shouted, pointing an angry finger at the Sannin.

"_Hey! What the hell is wrong with you three? I just fixed up the place!_" the bar owner shouted at Naruto with a high-pitched voice. He was joined by several of his patrons as Jiraiya sweat-dropped with embarrassment at his student's idiocy and Tsunade face-palmed.

"Yeah, what's the big ideal, you little shit?"

"You made me spill my drink, asshole!"

"Isn't it your fucking bedtime, you midget bastard? Get outta here!"

A vein popped up on Naruto's temple at the last remark. "Shut up! I apologise for nothing!" Naruto declared, unrepentant as he continued to point an angry finger at Tsunade. "Hey, granny, what's the big idea, huh?"

Now a vein popped up on Tsunade's cheek as her eye twitched and she raised an angry fist. "What was that, you impudent brat?"

"This necklace!" Naruto shouted, pointing to the Shodai's pendant. "It's cursed! Are you trying to get me killed? Well, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

"What was that?" Tsunade shouted back. "That's it! You and me, OUTSIDE! RIGHT NOW!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Naruto stormed outside, followed by an irate Tsunade and an apologetic Jiraiya who threw a wad of cash at the bar owner and rubbed the back of his head as he shouted many apologies.

-ooo-

(Outside)

Naruto and Tsunade stood opposite one another in the dirt road, staring each other down with equally contemptuous expression as though they were in some clichéd Western movie.

"There will be no mercy for you this time, brat!" Tsunade crackled her knuckles menacingly. "I'm going to teach your some manners."

Naruto flipped her off childishly. "Yeah? Just make sure you don't pop a hip or something, _Onibaba!_"

Tsunade let out a shrill shriek at the insult, not taking kindly to being called a 'demon hag' by her fellow blonde. "That is _it_! _I will END you!_"

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that, granny!" Naruto shot back, hooking the Shodai's necklace on his thumb. "What, with you trying to have me killed with this demonic object!"

"_Demonic object?_" Tsunade repeated, more veins popping up on her face. "_That is the Shodai's necklace, you little shit!_"

Jiraiya began to sweat bullets from the sidelines. "Oh, boy, Naruto you better watch out!" he shouted as Tsunade charged at the youth.

Naruto charged right back at her with a battle cry. He jumped over her initially punch, but was caught by a powerful high kick that sent him crashing to the ground and bouncing painfully into a vendor stall. Tsunade was holding back, that much was clear, but it still hurt more than usual.

He scrambled to his feet as Tsunade jumped high in the air and brought down her kick in an axe kick. "Tsūkenkyaku!" A crater formed where Naruto had just sat, and he counted his lucky stars for making it out of there on time.

"Holy shit!" Naruto went through a string of hand seals rapidly, albeit slower than what he was usually capable of as he felt sluggish. He did just awake from a coma after all. "Doton: Doryū Taiga!"

Naruto sunk his fingers into the dirt and sent a wave of mud crashing against Tsunade, pushing her back a few feet before she had enough and punched the ground with her monstrous strength, sealing the mud in a crevice. "I hate that jutsu!" Tsunade growled as she charged at him.

Naruto dashed to the right, dodging a fist that crushed the ground. He pushed himself over her shoulders and aimed a roundhouse kick – bad idea, as it turned out. Tsunade easily grabbed his ankle and swung him around like a ragdoll. "You're a hundred years early to try and challenge me in taijutsu, whelp!"

The Godaime launched the young jinchūriki head first into another building, a small bed and breakfast by the look of it.

Naruto groaned painfully, reminded of his bout with Gantetsu a few weeks before in the very same city. Tsunade allowed him no reprieve as she grabbed him by the foot again and raised him upside down.

"Ready to apologise yet, brat?" she demanded.

Her eyes narrowed as she felt her grip loosen and tighten in an instant. The 'Naruto' she now had in her grip was a clone the original had Substituted with – a clone which started to glow brightly.

"AS IF!" Tsunade swung the clone in the direction of the real Naruto, who she sensed to be a few feet to her right.

Naruto's eyes widened as his own clone came flying at him. "Oh fu-"

_BOOM!_

Smoke billowed from the now destroyed establishment as Tsunade emerged with an irate expression. "Where did he go?" she demanded with an angry look at Jiraiya.

"What, he escaped that?" Jiraiya said incredulously. He gave a low whistle at the notion. "He's getting fast."

"HIYAH!" Naruto emerged from the smoke, jumping high in the air with a Rasengan in his hand, aimed for turned Tsunade. "You're mine!"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed; Jiraiya disappeared with a Shunshin just as she turned around to face Naruto, who flew at her with his drilling blue orb of chakra.

_BOOM!_

_Cling!_

Jiraiya's eyes widened as the second smoke cloud blew past. He found Tsunade towering over Naruto, a single finger aimed to the sky; pointing to the headband she had just sent flying with a flick.

For a moment Naruto looked shocked, but then he grinned at her. "What's so funny, brat?" Tsunade growled as she caught his headband.

"You were wrong," he replied simply. "You were wrong about the necklace. It isn't cursed."

Tsunade's eyes widened, "How did you-"

"I'm going to be the Hokage one day, bachan, and I'm going to do it wearing this necklace!" Naruto declared with unwavering conviction and determination in his eyes as he looked into hers. "I just went up against an S-ranked shinobi and I'm still breathing. If the necklace really was cursed, I would've been dead by now, wouldn't I?"

Tsunade opened her mouth, but no reply came. After a long moment of silence, she smiled. She then leaned in and planted a kiss on Naruto's forehead. "I'll take you up on that bet," Tsunade said as she leaned back.

Naruto had a light blush on his cheeks but nodded nonetheless. "You got it!"

-ooo-

(Days Later: Konohagakure no Sato)

It was hard not to notice all the stares of villagers and shinobi alike as they passed the village gates. Perhaps seeing two of the greatest shinobi ever produced walk side-by-side along with Naruto, Shizune and Tonton, Tsunade's pet pig, was a bigger deal than he realised.

"Welcome back, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama!" several shinobi and villagers greeted as they walked down the road.

Naruto scratched his cheek, feeling somewhat giddy he was finally home again. "Oh, man, I am _dying _for some Ichiraku's," he exclaimed.

"You glutton," Tsunade remarked. "You want to watch your weight, _Naruto-chan_, it bad enough to be a midget. You don't want to be a _fat_ midget."

Naruto twitched at that. "Yeah, well that's not surprising coming from an old lady who needs her meals put in a blender before she can eat it! Tell me, does Shizune-neechan cut up your meat for your?"

"What was that?" Tsunade challenged, raising her fist angrily Naruto, whilst Jiraiya tried to hold her back in a full nelson. "You want another beating, brat? You'll be eating through a straw when I'm done with you."

Naruto returned her sneer, electricity jumping from their eyes as they glared at each other. "You're not Hokage yet, Tsunade-bachan. I can still kick your ass and get away it!"

_No, he couldn't._ Naruto couldn't so much as land a straight punch on Tsunade at the level he was, regardless whether Tsunade hadn't actually fought in years. The difference in their strength was just that profound. He couldn't beat her in his wildest dreams, but that didn't stop him from claiming otherwise though.

"Kick my ass?" Tsunade laughed loudly at the foolish notion as they continued to walk down the road towards the Sarutobi compound. "Ha! You're a thousand years to even begin dreaming about that!"

"I thought ladies didn't like divulging their ages," Naruto shot back childishly.

'Oh, you poor, poor fool, Naruto,' Jiraiya and Shizune thought. Even Tonton squealed in warning of danger as fire burned in Tsunade's eyes.

Naruto felt the wave of killing intent crash into him as Tsunade raised her fist angrily and screamed, "THAT IS IT!"

Naruto's screams resounded through the village as Tsunade mercilessly pummelled him.

-ooo-

(Sarutobi Compound)

Naruto's face was still swollen by the time they got to the Sarutobi compound. Perhaps the blasted fox amused itself at his expense, Naruto thought, as his wounds had barely healed since. "Achi!" Naruto hissed as he felt his cheek; his cheekbone was broken.

"Oh quite your whimpering, those were love taps!" Tsunade berated him.

Scandalised, Naruto turned to her so fast his neck nearly snapped. "_Love taps?_" he repeated in a high pitched voice. "You nearly _killed_ me! I'm still injured you know? Someone should revoke your medical license!"

Tsunade looked around with an embarrassed flush and hissed at him. "Quit your whining and stop being so loud. You're embarrassing us!"

"I'm being loud? You're being loud!"

They continued to bicker and argue as Jiraiya and Shizune lead them into the compound, where they were greeted by several Sarutobi clan members. Naruto had been here before and recognised many of the Sarutobi clansmen he had met as a child. The compound was much smaller than the other clan compounds in the village, Naruto knew. The Sarutobi Clan was one of the smaller clans after all, hence their modestly sized compound, which was built in a very traditional architecture style reminiscent of old Japanese-styled castles.

They exchanged a few pleasantries with several Sarutobi clansmen before they were admitted inside and lead to Hiruzen's room.

Naruto pulled aside the slide door as they reached the room and peered inside, with a hand held up in greeting.

Inside the room laid Sarutobi Hiruzen, asleep and hooked to several machines. At the foot of hid bed Sarutobi Asuma and the doctor Naruto had met before several weeks ago holding a clipboard in his hand. Easily most notable was the massive, white-haired ape seated next to Hiruzen's bed in meditative position.

Upon the door opening, all three looked up. "Tsunade-sama, how good to see you!" said the doctor, relief clearly audible his voice.

"Shizune, how have you been?" Asuma greeted his old teammate as they entered the room. **(2)** He gave a respectful head bow to Jiraiya and Tsunade. "I'm glad you guys are here. Father has been circling in the drain."

The ape, clearly a summon, smiled with relief. "Hello there, Tsunade. It certainly has been a while."

"Enma!" Tsunade exclaimed with child-like joy. She grinned at the Monkey King. "How have you been? It's been so long!"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Why is she so cheery?" he wondered out loud.

Jiraiya leaned over, covering his hand with his mouth and whispered, "That's Enma the Monkey King. He's the old man's personal summon. When we were kids, we used to train with him. Tsunade really took to him, more than me and Orochimaru."

"Ahuh, interesting." It wasn't particularly, but Naruto nodded his head nonetheless. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Enma-chan," Naruto said affectionately, offering the Monkey King a handshake. This was the old man's summon he was talking to, and if the rumours were true, the ape had the old man's back in his bout with Orochimaru.

Enma smiled kindly at Naruto and covered his hand with his own. "You don't remember me, do you, child?"

"Remember you?" Naruto looked confused. "Have we met before?" He gave Enma a good look-over, fully taking in the ape's appearance.

Enma's body was covered by white furm which protruded from his sleeves and pants. He had long white hair and sideburns as well as a goatee. He wore a black suit with mesh armour underneath, over which he wore a sleeveless kimono shirt with white trimmings and markings reminiscent of tiger stripes on it, held closed by a sash. Enma also wore Konoha headband, something Naruto had never seen before on a summon.

Naruto scratched his head. "I guess you kind of look familiar, but I'm not sure..." It was true. There was something distantly familiar about the Monkey King, but he couldn't quit put his finger on it.

Enma nodded and gave an apish smile that revealed his sharp teeth. "I suppose you wouldn't recognise me. You were only an infant after all. Hiruzen-dono would summon me to look over you in his office when you were but a newborn," Enma elaborated. "I must say, I am quite surprised you seem to recognise me, if only a little."

Naruto smiled unsure of what to say. Luckily Jiraiya reminded them why they were all here. "There'll be time for catching up later," the sage said. "Tsunade-hime, you'll probably want to get to work."

"That's right," she nodded. "Shizune and I will need our space," she said dismissively. "You can stay and help us out if you want," she then said to the doctor, who nodded.

"Of course."

"I will remain by Hiruzen-dono's side," replied Enma, who jumped out of his seating position and hung upside down from the ceiling. "Do not mind my presence."

Naruto, Asuma and Jiraiya exited the room and stood in the hall conversing moments later.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei, what's Shikamaru been up to?" Naruto asked the chain smoking jōnin.

He hadn't had time to inform his team of his absence when he left the village with Jiraiya, thus Naruto wondered what his team had been up to since he left.

Asuma looked at him briefly as though curious about something; then he realised the older man was eyeing the necklace hanging around his neck. "I haven't seen Shikamaru all that much lately, but the last time I did see him he was on his way to the countryside for a mission."

"When was this?"

"Over a week ago," Asuma revealed with a shrug. The jōnin took the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and looked it over in his hand. "I'm going to smoke this outside. I'll see you guys later."

Naruto watched him leave and then turned to Jiraiya. "I should get going as well. I'm tired, hungry and I still have to write a report on the mission."

"You go ahead, I'll hang back around here for a while," Jiraiya replied with a glance over his shoulder to the closed doors. "And don't forget you have to get your medical cleared tomorrow. Tsunade will know if you haven't gotten it done yet, believe me, I've been there and it's _not_ pretty. You renege on anything medical she told you to do, and you're looking at a colonoscopy, kid. _A colonoscopy._"

Naruto shuddered at the thought. "Yeah, I'll go tomorrow. Which reminds me, I need to pick up my pay check in the morning. A-ranked mission, my ass," Naruto grumbled as he walked off, leaving a bemused Jiraiya listening to his rants as he walked. "Simple retrieve mission – as if! I got nearly killed three times, and one of those times by the old hag I was supposed to be bringing back!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

And with that, the second arc is COMPLETE. I hope y'all liked reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it – I particularly liked writing Jiraiya VS Orochimaru scene. What did you guys thinks about that one? Oh, and who else noticed Kabuto's more of an egomaniac now? I decided to add that to his character; it just seems to fall in place with how he's been behaving in recent manga chapters. He always struck me like a character that was driven to prove his arrogance wasn't unfounded.

Anyway, people, Sasaki is alive. Yes, I know a lot of you guys hated him. A sentiment to which I can only reply with: you and me both! He's not a character you're supposed to like, unless you've got some issues of your own, which fine, if not a little worrying. Like I said before, he will play a significant role in the story – in fact, I've already hinted at it not so long ago. Mull that over for a minute.

Moving on, the next chapter it's going be the start of the third arc. That'll be about four chapters long-ish; it's going to be a lot more mysterious than what I usually write, but more on that later. I'd like see hear what you guys have to say in a **review**!

_Oh, and before I forget, I put out another pilot chapter for a new story: The Uzumaki Descendant (title still pending), so go check that out too, if you feel like it. _

OK that's all I got. See you guys next time – and don't forget to **review**!

**Notes**

**(1) **In case it wasn't clear yet, Naruto's wounds are not healed automatically outside of battle or training. Remember how the use of the Kyūbi's chakra is actually detrimental him in some ways? Yeah...

**(2) **OK, as shitty as the latest Naruto Shippūden film was, it did show Shizune and Asuma knew each other when they were younger.

...

**Jutsu Used:**

(In'yu Shōmetsu - Yin Healing Wound Destruction) – A rank, supplementary. Medical ninjutsu where one anticipates the spot the enemy will attack and pre-emptively applies medical treatment to it, reducing damage to a minimum. The user concentrates chakra to that area and begins the cell recreation process even before the targeted area becomes damaged.

(Infūin: Kai – Yin Seal: Release) – S rank, supplementary. The Yin Seal: Release is a powerful sealing technique used by Tsunade. Over a period of time, Tsunade will focus and build up chakra in the seal mark on her forehead. The release command will disperse the seal and allow the stored chakra to pump back into her body. She has used this stored chakra to perform Creation Rebirth technique on herself**. Derived jutsu:** Sōzō Saisei (Creation Rebirth).

(Sōzō Saisei – Creation Rebirth) – S rank, supplementary. By releasing the great volume of chakra stored in her forehead at once, the body's cell division is forcibly stimulated by proteins, reconstructing all organs and all tissues making up the human body. If this technique is used, a body whose vital organs are so gravely injured that it cannot bear it any longer will be instantly restored to its uninjured state, essentially making the user immortal. **Parent jutsu:** Infūin: Kai (Yin Seal: Release).

(Senpō: Kebari Senbon – Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon ) - ? rank, offensive, mid range. This technique essentially hardens the hair on the user's head and shoots it continuously at the enemy. At the same time that Jiraiya kneads the chakra needed for senjutsu and fires the hair needles, Fukasaku and Shima activate Jiraiya's hair roots causing the hair to grow at an accelerated rate thus making limitless rapid-fire possible. **Parent jutsu:** Hari Jigoku (Needle Hell).

(Senpō: Fūton Sunabokori – Sage Art: Wind Release Dustcloud) - ? rank, supplementary, all ranges. Through the use of senjutsu, Ma and Pa exhale a massive burst of air from the mouths, strong enough to jutsu or create clouds of dust when aimed at the ground, which are thick enough to obscure the target's vision.

(Senpō: Goemon - Sage Art: Goemon) - ? rank, offensive, all ranges. Goemon is a collaboration jutsu used by Jiraiya with Shima and Fuksaku. Jiraiya will spit a large volume of oil, which is followed by a Fūton jutsu by Fukasaku and a Katon jutsu by Shima. Within an instant, that area will be filled with oil burning at temperatures of thousands of degrees. The super heated oil creates an inferno of such magnitude that, within an instant, the target and the surrounding area will be reduced to cinders.

(Ranshinshō – Body Pathways Derangement) – A rank, supplementary. By transforming the chakra within one's body and giving it the properties of electricity, Tsunade strikes her opponent in the back of the neck, upsetting his entire nervous system with a jolt of electricity, making it near impossible to as the signals to the brain are messed up.

(Ninpō: Kōtō Saisei – Ninja Art: Oral Rebirth) S rank, supplementary. Used after sustaining massive injury, or simply to escape from a seemingly inescapable attack, this technique allows the user to regurgitate a new body from their mouth, complete with any lost limb being regenerated and all wounds healed, much like a snake sheds its skin.

(Tsūkenkyaku – Heavenly Foot of Pain) – C rank, offensive, short range. Tsunade concentrates her incredible strength into her heel and strikes the enemy; the power of this attack is so great that it can cause immediate death.

...

**Character Stats**

_Konoha_

Naruto: | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 2.5 | Bukijutsu: 1.5 | Genjutsu: 1 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 4.5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control: 2.5 **| Total: 28 |**

Jiraiya: | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 4.5 | Bukijutsu: 3| Genjutsu: 3.5 | Intelligence: 4.5 | Strength: 4.5 | Speed: 4.5 | Stamina: 5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 43 |**

Tsunade: | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 5 | Bukijutsu: 2.5 | Genjutsu: 3.5 | Intelligence: 5 | Strength: 5 | Speed: 3.5 | Stamina: 4.5 | Chakra: 4 | Chakra Control: 4.5 **| Total: 42.5 |**

Shizune: | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 2 | Genjutsu: 3.5 | Intelligence: 4 | Strength: 3 | Speed: 3 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 2.5 | Chakra Control: 4 **| Total: 31 |**

_Oto_

Orochimaru: | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 3.5 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 4.5 | Intelligence: 5 | Strength: 4 | Speed: 4 | Stamina: 4 | Chakra: 4.5 | Chakra Control: 4.5 **| Total: 42.5 |**

Yakushi Kabuto: | Ninjutsu: 4 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 3 | Genjutsu: 4 | Intelligence: 5 | Strength: 3 | Speed: 3 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 3 | Chakra Control: 5 **| Total: 36 |**

Sasaki Genji: Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 4 | Bukijutsu: 4 | Genjutsu: 0.5 | Intelligence: 2.5 | Strength: 4 | Speed: 3.5 | Stamina: 4 | Chakra: 3 | Chakra Control: 2 **| Total: 29.5 |**


	9. Chapter 9: Never Quiet

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 21-12-11_

**_OK, a forewarning: this chapter is by far the longest so far, people. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to finish writing it, so show me some love and drop me a line or two. This is the longest chapter I have ever written, so show me love, people! 17,000 words - WHAT THE FUCK, RIGHT?_**

**ARC3: The Inauguration Arc**

CH09: Never Quiet

CH10: In the Midst of Confusion

CH11: The Lie Lived

CH12: Inauguration

* * *

><p>CH09: Never Quiet<p>

* * *

><p>(Oto no Kuni – Otogakure Gates)<p>

In the country formerly known as Ta no Kuni, or Rice Country, before he conquered it and convinced the Daimyō to change the name, Orochimaru passed the gates of the Hidden Sound village. In actuality, Otogakure was not a single village, but rather several smaller bases spread across several countries, with the main base stationed in Oto no Kuni. It was a safer and much more efficient way of doing business; allowing them to usurp business all over the world, whilst at the same time keeping them safe from larger villages that would want to crush them. Which, at the moment, was more or less every village of significance. This particular base, though, was the original base of Otogakure and the one Orochimaru occupied the most, leading it to be recognised as the main base.

Orochimaru stalked onwards with a limp, but no less purposefully as he snarled; his expression was that of rage. His eyes were set in a seeming permanent look of hatred. As soon as they had seen him approach, his shinobi forces immediately prepared to open the tall, impossible to scale, iron wrought gates. His welcoming committee stepped aside in neat rows, giving birth to the entrance.

"Welcome back, Orochimaru-sama," his jōnin commander greeted, stepping out of line and kneeling respectfully as Orochimaru walked past him. "You couldn't have come at a better time," the Oto shinobi said as he got to his feet and caught up with the self-proclaimed Otokage. "We have received word of an outbreak of test subjects at base seven. The scientists in charge have called for assistance. They claim many of the test subjects have exhibited strange reactions to your juinjutsu. Latest reports reveal they have taken over the-"

"Not now!" Orochimaru snarled with annoyance, killing intent exploding with fury. Many of his subordinates could hardly breathe and fell to their knees or stumbled back in fear. "Have the Shiiin Clan send a team of their best with the exception of Tayuya **(1)**. Their flutes will calm down and subjugate the subjects. Then send word to Guren to leave base nine and aid them with a team of her own. She will know what to do. In the meanwhile, take care of these two fools!" Orochimaru's mouth widened in a sickening fashion, stretching at least six feet wide as he made retching noises, followed by green fluid covered Kabuto and Sasaki; they were dropped unceremoniously in front of the jōnin commander, who jumped back immediately. "Under normal circumstances, I would have them both killed, but they are far too valuable. I have put them in a meditative state to begin their recovery. See to it they are brought to the medical bay."

Orochimaru promptly stalked off to the square, five stories building where he usually resided. The serpent subconscious fiddled with the slate blue ring on his right hand, the kū ring given to him in his time with Akatsuki. His face contorted with rage. Perhaps he was better of returning the ring to those fools, they were becoming increasingly meddling with his shinobi forces. Already they had destroyed several of his strongholds in their campaign to locate him. In particular, Zetsu had come close to killing him they last time they encountered...

-ooo-

(Hi no Kuni, Konohagakure Hospital)

Scuffling noises and yelps sounded from a certain room in Konohagakure's hospital, followed by a patient voice, though progressively weary with mild irritation. Naruto silently cursed Tsunade for making him have this physical. They were an hour in already, and no matter how much she poked and prodded, Shizune couldn't find anything wrong with him.

"Tcha! That's cold!"

"Stop squirming, Naruto-kun. This will all be over in a moment, please be patient."

Naruto remained seated on the counter as Shizune continued to examine his heartbeat with a stethoscope. She frowned and then looked up at Naruto as though the answer was written on his forehead. "Remarkable," she noted in a quiet tone. "You've had such severe damage done to your heart, but I detect no irregularities. None whatsoever... It seems you are in perfect health."

Naruto grinned. "Just one of the perks of being a jinchūriki, Shizune-neechan, just one of the perks." He jumped out of her reach and pulled off his hospital gown with vigour before she could check again. He hated hospitals and their stupid gowns, and he hated checkups just as much.

"Looks like I'll have to can clear you for going on missions." Shizune ticked a few boxes on her clipboard just as Naruto finished pulling on brown baggy shinobi-styled trousers. It was his day off today, so he decided to forego the usual regulation flak uniform and opt for simpler clothing.

"I told you I was fine." He did. He must have told her a thousand times on their way back from Tanzaku Gai, but neither Shizune nor Tsunade was having any of it. The soon-to-be Godaime had actually threatened to order a colonoscopy if he didn't have his physical today; she even had Shizune take time out of her schedule to oversee it herself. It was touching one hand on, irksome and terrifying on another. Tsunade's brand of tough love was tougher than what most men could imagine. Naruto reckoned that even in their youth, she made _Orochimaru_ look like the sweet one.

A distasteful mental image of a younger, significantly more androgynous Orochimaru blushing and batting his eyelashes at him made Naruto feel nauseous. He shook his head, forever banishing the thought within seconds. He noticed Shizune was talking to him; though her lips moved and words come from her mouth, he didn't quite follow. "Sorry, what were you saying, Shizune-neechan?"

Shizune looked mildly irritated, but her kind disposition prevented her from expressing this. "We're not done yet," she informed, turning the clipboard for him see an unanswered question. "I need to ask you some questions. It's important you answer them."

"Alright, sure." Naruto pulled his green short-sleeved shirt with the Konoha emblem on the front and sat back up on her bench. 'What's she so embarrassed about, why is she blushing?' he thought as he recognized the embarrassed flush on her face.

"OK, question one..." Shizune began gingerly. "Are you currently sexually active, and if so, how many times a week, month or year, do you engage in intercourse, and with how many partners?"

Naruto's jaw dropped, now _he_ was red in the face. "Wh- What the hell is that got to do with my health?" Now, Naruto knew the answer to both questions was 'zero', but he would be damned if he just went out and said it. In the few weeks he had known her, he had begun to think of her as a sister figure. Nobody told their sister that kind of information. No matter how close you were.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume the answer is 'zero', if that's OK with you, Naruto-kun." He didn't like the knowing smile on her face. Apparently _his_ discomfort with the situation had put _her_ more at ease.

Fucking terrific.

"Not for a lack of trying, I hope?" Shizune joked with inference. "Aren't there any girls your age you find attractive, Naruto-kun?"

'Well she got over her embarrassment real quick,' Naruto noted dryly. "Well, of course there are." He could name at least four on the spot. "I just haven't really had the time to think about... _you know_... doing anything about it."

Shizune was seemingly delighted with his answer at the expense of his embarrassment. "If you have any questions about sex, Naruto-kun, I would be glad to answer them. After all, I am knowledgeable in these things." She laughed as his face turned read and he struggled to come up with a comeback. "Have you actually ever seen girl naked?"

Of course he had. Who did she think he was, some prude? Ha! Where did she think he got his inspiration for this Sexy no Jutsu – wait, he remembered he hadn't even so much as mentioned that technique. Naruto sweat-dropped with a sense of dread at the notion of Tsunade finding out about that particular jutsu... No, for the sake of his own health, as far as he knew, he had never invented any technique of perverted jutsu.

"Again, please do remind me why this is relevant to whether or not I can stick a kunai into someone's skull?" Naruto looked at Shizune, keeping a straight face as she continued barely restrain herself from laughing. His blank expression didn't seem to help.

After a moment of suppressing her amusement, Shizune gave a few dry coughs and exhaled, focusing on answering the question without making fun of the young shinobi in front of her. "Well, it all comes down to basic physiology," she stated, instantly going into her medical mode as she began to drone on and on about the subject for a good fifteen minutes. Naruto had lost her after about two.

By the end of it, he regretted asking. "So you're basically saying," he formulated his question uncertainly as he asked it, "That my getting laid can have a direct result on my performance on missions?"

"Yes. How do you think Jiraiya-sama is such a successful shinobi?" Shizune nodded with a straight face. "It's a well known fact Jiraiya holds the current record of completing the most missions out of all Konoha shinobi," Shizune added matter-of-factly.

She was being a little too serious. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?" Naruto accused.

"No," she shook her head, a betraying twitch of her lips failing to convince him. "_But maybe someone ought to be._"

Naruto's jaw dropped again. "OK, that's it! I'm out of here!" He absolutely hated himself for being so uncomfortable with the subject, but it couldn't be helped. It wasn't as though he actually knew the first thing about sex, and yet, here she was antagonising him!

"Naruto-kun, come back! I still have some more questions!"

Naruto stormed out of the medical examination room, muttering and sputtering inanely about her being 'crazy' and 'getting back at' Tsunade and such. By the time he was out of her reach, Shizune was lurched over, holding her sides as she laughed louder than she had in years.

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

A long table was placed in the middle of the spacious, lavishly decorated, albeit poorly lit room. On each side were five seats; at the head of the table was a TV screen displaying the Daimyō of Hi no Kuni. Seated on the left were the Daimyō's five delegates, all middle aged men in fine robes. Light eminated from the screen and the spotlights above each individual; the rest was cast in darkness, in which the silent ANBU sentinels remained hidden.

On the right side of the table sat Konoha's top brass: the Hokage's advisors and council members Homura and Koharu sat on the far right. Next to them, in the middle, sat the jōnin commander and overseer of Konoha's strategic departments: Nara Shikaku. To Shikaku's left, in standard issue robe and masked attire, sat the current ANBU commander personal bodyguard to the Saindaime: Rooster. Next to Rooster, sat the frailest looking individual yet: an old man with black shaggy hair, and bandages covering his right eye. The man had an x-shaped scar on his chin and wore a white shirt, with a brown robe over top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder. This man was Shimura Danzō, the founder of the ANBU subsidiary Root, and estranged friend of the Sandaime.

"Good, we are all here," said the Daimyō as he waved himself with his intricately decorated, golden fan. "I presume my delegates find their accommodations satisfactory?"

The plump, middle aged men sat opposite the shinobi nodded, fanning themselves with similar fans. "Yes, Daimyō-sama," they said almost simultaneously. Undoubtedly, they would be comfortable, on Konoha's ryō no less.

The Daimyō nodded, clearly disinterested and noticeably displeased he had to be involved in the meeting, as though the electing of a Hokage was beneath him, a topic not worthy enough of taking time out of his schedule to discuss. "Let's get this out of the way, then, yes?" the Daimyō drawled impatiently. He gave a heavy sigh as he looked to both sides of the table.

"As you wish, Daimyō-sama," Homura bowed his head respectfully.

Koharu looked to her left and right and then addressed the Daimyō. "We have decided to appoint Tsunade of the Sannin to assume the mantle of Hokage and take tenure as the Godaime, Daimyō sama." Then she, too, gave a respectful bow of her head.

"Where is she?" one of the plumper and bearded delegates inquired. He appeared to be older than the other delegates, even his eyebrows were long and grey, half-framing his wrinkled face in a weave of grey and spots of black.

"Yes," drawled the Daimyō, still fanning himself lazily. "One would think the Hokage would find it prudent to attend this meeting..."

"If I may," Rooster fell in with a look to the others, pausing a moment for interruption. There was no objection, so he continued. "Tsunade-sama is unable to attend these proceedings as she is currently electing the new ANBU commander."

"Rooster, is it?" asked another delegate; he too was plump and old, though noticeably younger than the others. "You are the current ANBU commander, are you not?" Rooster nodded dogmatically. "Then why are you not there, with the others?"

"Tradition dictates the current ANBU commander does not actively pursue continuance, but instead, allows others the opportunity to be elected by the succeeding Hokage. Of course, that is not to say Tsunade-sama cannot offer me continuance, should she take a look at my files and wish for me to continue as ANBU commander," Rooster replied monotonically, without a hint of emotion in his voice as he held the delegate's gaze.

"Aha, interesting," the Daimyō patronised. It clearly wasn't, at least not to him. The Daimyō continued to fan himself as he gave an overdramatic sigh of annoyance and anguish. "I do wish Jiraiya would reconsider. I would have quite liked him to become the Godaime."

The Daimyō's delegates agreed immediately, murmuring amongst themselves. Koharu looked at them with perfectly veiled contempt. "We have offered Jiraiya the mantle many times now, but he has refused each time. Perhaps it is better this way, no, Daimyō-sama?"

"What about Hiruzen's son?" the Daimyō suggested. It was clear that he did not quite like the idea of Tsunade assuming the mantle.

What this reason was not lost on the shinobi representatives. As powerful as Tsunade was, and as great as her reputation and lineage may be, she was a woman first and foremost. She would not only be the first female Hokage, but the first female Kage in the history of the Great Five Elemental Nations. Koharu suppressed a sneer at the feudal lord of Fire Country. "Sarutobi Asuma?"

"Who?" The Daimyō appeared to be confused. "Was he the young fellow part of my guard many years ago?" Homura and Koharu nodded simultaneously. "Then, no. I speak of the other one, the older of the two brothers."

The delegates looked at one another, sharing glancing and murmuring softly. The shinobi representatives remained silent, though they too looked at each other questioningly. Even Rooster, who shared a single glance with Nara Shikaku.

"Sarutobi Kaen."

They all looked at the one who had spoken, the elderly man whose face was partially covered with bandage.

"Yes, Danzō-san, that's the one," the Daimyō nodded slowly. "He was a charming man. Quite strong and confident in character. A fine candidate for Hokage, _wouldn't you say?_" He iterated the last part with an pointed look at his delegates.

As expected, the Fire Lord's yes-men nodded and said words of agreement almost immediately. Shikaku frowned at them, but made no comment on their behaviour. "Sarutobi Kaen is no longer an active shinobi of Konoha," the Nara Clan head reminded them. "He left several years ago. We have not heard of him since. Not even after his father's illness became public knowledge."

Danzō's lone visible eye stared at Shikaku for a moment. "There cannot be a worse candidate than Sarutobi Kaen," Danzō stated with finality; his voice resounded as an echo in the poorly lit room. The others glanced at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He indulged them. "He is as good as a traitor to Konoha as Orochimaru of the Sannin. Have you all forgotten the last time his name was mentioned? How he left the village, speaking of vague notions of purpose? Had it not been for Sarutobi's intervention, our Hunter Ninja would be out there looking for him as we speak. No," Danzō tapped his cane loudly on the ground. "I will not accept him, a traitor to Konoha, as a viable candidate. I will not stand for it! We cannot allow him to return with a clean slate, what message would that send to Konoha-nin gone rogue? To the rest of the world? Not only does our shinobi village accept nuke-nin with open arms, but our Daimyō will allow them to become _Kage?_"

A tense silence resumed in the room, broken only by the Fire Lord, who did not notice the tension as he was not physically there. "Hmm," the Daimyō seemed to be convinced with Danzō's argument. "Are there truly no other candidates, then, or must Hi no Kuni become the first of the Great Five to appoint a _woman _as Kage?"

"She may not be the ideal candidate, but _she _is capable," Koharu said forcibly, a frown on her wrinkled face. "Granddaughter of the Shodai, grandniece of the Nidaime, former pupil to the Sandaime, last of the Senju and-"

"Yes, yes, I can see that," the Fire Daimyō interrupted, waving her off with disinterest. "Are there truly no other candidates?"

"What about Hatake Kakashi, son of the White Fang?" suggested the most senior of the delegates. "Sharingan no Kakashi, the son of the man said to be equal in power to the Sannin, and former pupil to the Yondaime Hokage. Surely he would make for a fine Hokage?"

The other delegates threw in their consensus as the Daimyō appeared interested. Homura and Koharu seemed uncertain and shared doubtful glances, whilst Rooster and Shikaku nodded and Danzō bristled once more, though he made no immediate comment.

"The student of the Yondaime, you say?" the Daimyō repeated. "My son adores the Yondaime. He collects Hiraishin kunai up until this day." None of the delegates or shinobi representatives were even remotely sure how that was relevant in any way, but did not comment as the Daimyō, they knew, could be an unpleasant individual if rubbed the wrong way. "I approve."

"He is skilled enough," Shikaku agreed, with a look at Rooster, who seemed to be the only one on his side as Homura and Koharu remained doubtful.

Rooster nodded confidently. "Yes. Hatake Kakashi would make a fine candidate. He has served village and country since he was a child. He was a true prodigy in his day. The ANBU would most definitely support his candidacy."

"Tche!" Danzō bristled with annoyance. "Once again we are treating the election of Hokage as a _hereditary_ component! What does it matter who the candidate was taught by, or who they are related to? It is because of this, with the exception of the Shodai, all subsequent Hokage have shown great weakness at various points!" His fellow representatives gave him curious looks, but Danzō ignored them, his eyes remaining on the TV screen likeness of their feudal lord.

"Explain," the Daimyō commanded.

"The Shodai was not known to be a ruthless character, but his kindness manifested in the Nidaime and grew stronger than it had been in him. We all know what happened to the Nidaime, do we not? He sacrificed himself in a time of war. Do not misunderstand me," he added with an almost threatening edge as he looked at both the delegates and his fellow shinobi representatives, "As one of the few he sacrificed himself for, I am truly grateful for his actions, but no matter how we look at it, on the face of it, appointing an frontline shinobi inexperienced in matters of politics as Kage only moments before sacrificing himself to take down Kumo's Kinkaku squad was a reckless decision. One that could have very well cost us the war and this country!"

"But we won," the Daimyō pointed out with a childlike stubbornness. The notion of Hi no Kuni losing a war did not sit well with the feudal lord.

"That we did," Danzō acknowledged easily. "But do you not see how the Nidaime's kindness then manifested itself in the Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen?" he challenged. "Sarutobi is undoubtedly the most compassionate Hokage – no, _Kage,_ in the history of shinobi world. The cases of Orochimaru and Sarutobi Kaen alone are undeniable examples of Sarutobi's weakness. And let me remind you," he gave a panning look of graveness, "Orochimaru was the mastermind behind the invasion only months ago. Any other Kage, including the Shodai _and_ the Nidaime, would have killed Orochimaru by with their own hands, surrogate son or not, and would have seen to it Sarutobi Kaen was executed." Danzō took a short break from his tired to catch his breath. His age was showing, he could no longer keep up his tirades. It forced him to talk in a slower, more resounding manner. "I had hopes for Namikaze. He was the _very embodiment_ of the shinobi way, capable of feats unseen since the Nidaime, but even he showed detrimental compassion on occasion. Why?" the Root leader asked rhetorically. "The answer lies with his _teacher_, Jiraiya of the Sannin. The very same who was taught by the Sandaime to carry on the Nidaime's foolish notions of kindness and compassion on the battlefield." Danzō looked at all of them defiantly, slamming his cane on the ground again. "This weakness must be stopped! We need a Hokage capable of ruthless actions, capable of doing whatever is necessary to protect country and village! We need someone-"

"Like you?" Shikaku interrupted calmly. "It is well known you have always resented the Sandaime for being chosen over you, Danzō. You may believe his kindness and compassion are weaknesses, but you seem to forget that Sandaime-sama not only became a war hero in First Great Shinobi War, but lead us to victories in the Great Shinobi Wars that followed. How would you explain these feats, if Hokage-sama is such a weak figure? How would you explain the fact that even though we are still recovering from the invasion, and that by now Hokage-sama's condition is undoubtedly known by the other villages, we are not faced with another attack? I will tell you why," Shikaku clarified, looking at the Daimyō and the delegates, "The reason we are not under attack at this very moment is because of Hokage-sama's reputation. You seem to have kindness and respect mixed up, Danzō. It is not because of Hokage-sama's compassion that we are able to continue operations undisturbed by our rival villages; it is because of Hokage-sama's fearsome reputation. A reputation he gained by following the Nidaime's _foolish notions._"

The delegates and the Daimyō seemed convinced with Shikaku's argument, but the Nara wasn't finished. "Hokage-sama is a great man and _he _truly embodies the shinobi way," Shikaku gave a pointed look at Danzō; the Nara clan head knew where Danzō was going with this, "He served faithfully for over fifty years and carried on the Will of Fire bestowed upon him by the Shodai and Nidaime, which he passed on to his students who, including Orochimaru for as long as it lasted, served village and country in two wars we could not have won without them. Jiraiya-sama's greatest student inherited the Will of Fire too, and not only was he one of the most gifted shinobi this village has ever produced; he was the youngest shinobi to ever have a flee-on-sight notice. And like his teacher before him, Namikaze Minato passed it on to his students, of whom only Kakashi survived the Third Great Shinobi War." Shikaku gave pause to allow them to mull over what he had just said. "Personally, I believe Tsunade is the best candidate we can hope for, but if not her, then surely Hatake Kakashi would make a great Hokage."

"Yes, yes, that is quite enough. I am fully convinced," the Daimyō announced. "Let it be known, then, that Senju Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin, the last of Senju, granddaughter to the Shodai, grandniece to the Nidaime and pupil to the Sandaime, is the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato! I see no reason for a probationary period. I trust the inauguration ceremonies are already well on the way? Good. I will personally attend."

"Yes, Daimyō-sama, you presence will surely illuminate the village," Homura nodded.

Koharu agreed. "Indeed, it will boost the morale of your shinobi forces, Daimyō-sama."

"We look forward to be graced with your presence, Daimyō-sama," Shikaku said with a bow of his head, which his fellow shinobi representatives emulated, including Danzō, albeit begrudgingly as the old war hawk glared at the Nara clan leader.

-ooo-

(Hokage Tower)

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade sat behind her desk. Kneeled in front of her were nine masked ANBU officers. They were the best the ANBU had to offer; all of them had served Konoha for numerous years and had accumulated great skill and experience over the length of their career.

Spread out on the desk before her were numerous files and folders pertaining to these deadly individuals: detailed accounts of their missions, skill assessments and so on. For nearly two hours, she flipped through the pages, taking in the information and making inquiries of the ANBU officers and learning everything there was to know about them.

She had to be thorough with this. Whomever she appointed to become the ANBU commander, and would be directly under her charge. As per the Nidaime's precedent, only the Hokage could appoint, dismiss and assign ANBU officers. They were her own personal army of assassins, capable of taking over a country if she so wished.

As expected, all of them remained quiet and perfectly still as she took her time reading their files at a leisurely pace. It was a test most Kage made use of, even the other Great Five who had emulated Konoha's ANBU regimen. Tsunade would not appoint anyone as impatient as she was, though the odds of any of them to be impatient were non-existent. ANBU operators had notoriously long patience anyway. It was why she never took to the department, unlike Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who had served as operators for quite some time while she worked in the hospital... where she met Dan.

Tsunade rose out of her chair and stood in front her desk with her arms crossed. "I have decided," she announced.

The ANBU remained as silent and unmoving as they had for the past two hours as she learned everything there was to know about them. "ANBU operative 309, codename Cat."

Though she did not use her real name out loud in front of her fellow operatives, as knowing each other's true identity was forbidden amongst ANBU. Tsunade knew her true name to be Uzuki Yūgao after having read her file.

"A-ranked shinobi, 623 missions completed, 95% success record," Tsunade smiled at her, though she knew the ANBU would not smile back, not even from under her mask as she was a true shinobi. On the job, she knew no emotion. "I hereby appoint you to ANBU commander."

"It is as you wish it to be, Hokage-sama," Yūgao replied dutifully, with a deeper bow of her head. "My life is yours to command."

"Thank you." Tsunade looked at the other operators. They were all skilled enough, reliable enough, experienced enough... but if she were to be the first female Kage, then so would her head of ANBU be the first female ANBU commander. She decided this partially to slight the Daimyō, even if the ignorant fool would have no idea or care for who she elected as ANBU commander, and because of Hiruzen. "ANBU officer 174, codename Rooster, will remain as my predecessor's bodyguard. Cat, I expect the revised roster by tomorrow."

Yūgao gave a dogmatic nod.

"With the exception of 292, codename Tenzō, you are dismissed." Tsunade eyed the remaining ANBU as the others disappeared, phasing through the ground.

Tenzō remained quiet and perfectly still as Tsunade leant on her desk, crossing her arms over her well-endowed chest and shot him a disarming smile. "So, I hear you have an interesting skill set."

-ooo-

(Armoury Administration Building - Floor Zero)

Naruto went down to the Armoury Administration building's floor zero, the _real_ one, to thank Shiho for the caltrops, and voice his indignation with Shizune. Perhaps it wasn't his best idea, considering Shiho turned red and was incapable of offering anything other than incoherent babbling and poorly structured sentences.

Unfortunately, much to Naruto's dismay and disgust, Gikan did have something to add as he sat behind his workbench, his back turned to them as he continued to work on a metallic device of sorts with lengthy, thinner than usual screwdrivers-like tools. "Well, when you think about it, it _does _go back to basic physiology," the mad scientist commented, "Orgasms are good for the body. Though, you don't necessarily have to be with a woman - or a man, if you happen to swing that way." Naruto turned green in the face at the notion. "Lowers the heart rate, releases the endorphins... Hmm, basic physiology indeed. I'm sorry, what was your question again?"

Naruto looked at the older man's back with a blank expression, blinking a few times. "OK, did that just happen?" he asked Shiho, who jumped slightly as he addressed her. "Did the old man just tell me to... _you know_... _love myself?_"

"Well, Uzumaki-san," Shiho took a moment to push her glasses in an attempt to ignore her own discomfort, "I do not believe Gikan-sensei told you to... _you know_... but rather, was making an astute observation of the human body. I do not believe he actually cares whether or not you... _you know_."

Great, now he felt disgusted _and_ insulted. "Alright, well it's been nice catching up with you, Shiho-chan." She beamed at the affectionate suffix. "I'm going to see a smith or something about a sword I picked up on my last mission."

Gikan leaned back from his bench, pulling a white cloth over the contraption he was working on, and turned around on his swivel stool. "There's no need for you to go through that much trouble, Uzumaki. Give it here," he commanded with a beckoning motion of his hand.

Naruto retrieved his sealing scroll and made a hand seal. "Kai." With a burst of smoke, the blade he used against Sasaki appeared in his hand. "Thanks, old man, I owe you one." The chūnin gave the sword to Gikan, who held up in his scrutinising gaze.

"Incomplete, that much is obvious," the scientist observed with a few nods. "Aha, I believe I can construct a proper guard for it, if you want."

"Actually, I would like to keep it like it is. I just a need a sword sheath to keep it in, it's a lot sharper than it looks." Naruto preferred the makeshift gauze guard of the sword. It was lighter than an actual guard and easier to handle for him. It was also significantly longer than his tantō, which had been little more useful than a kunai when he fought Sasaki due to his limited skill and reach, so he hadn't bothered with it. 'Which reminds me,' Naruto thought. "Gikan-sensei, can you tell me what kind of sword it is?"

The old man looked at the sword with closer scrutiny. "I had my doubts for a moment," he said with a vague nod, "But this sword is undoubtedly a kodachi, and a very skilfully forged one at that. It is capable of channelling chakra through it... Where did you find this sword?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I can channel chakra through it?"

"Just answer the question!" Gikan demanded, short tempered and as easily irate as all ways. "Were you in Tetsu no Kuni when you found this blade?"

'Iron Country?' Naruto shook his head; he hadn't even been remotely close to the country. In fact, aside from that one time on his mission to Nami no Kuni, he had never left the Hi no Kuni. "No," Naruto answered. "I found a few rōnin with it. They kidnapped a girl, so I killed them. I figured I'd collect and sell their gear for some extra ryō."

"How heroic of you, Uzumaki-san!" Shiho praised him with a huge smile and a small cheer; it gave an overall cute effect. "What did you do with the other weapons you collected?"

"Nothing yet. I haven't had the time to unload them to anyone yet," Naruto shrugged. Then turning to Gikan, who he noticed had fallen silent as he mumbled to himself and held the sword loftily in his right hand whilst cupping his chin with his left. "So, uh, how do you figure it is capable of channelling chakra, Gikan-sensei?" He emulated Shiho in fear of incurring the old man's annoyance. As much as he liked the mad scientist, he was as bipolar as it got: one moment he'd keep to himself, completely emerged in his work; the other he'd get worked up over nothing.

"The sword is lighter than it should be and the sword has the tell-tale gleam that indicates the minerals used in forging it were infused with chakra," Gikan replied after a long thoughtful growling hum.

That made sense to Naruto. He noticed almost immediately the sword had a beckoning gleam to it when he chose it in his bout with Sasaki. "How would those rōnin have gotten their hands on it though?" Naruto asked as he remembered where he had gotten it. "They weren't very strong to begin with."

"Hmm...," Gikan growl-hummed to himself for moment, "See these marks?" he indicated a three-pronged mark on the base of the sword's metal that vaguely resembled three wolves, "That is the sign of Tetsu no Kuni's samurai branch settled in the Sanrō Mountains. They are known as the Samurai no Hoku Shidan, I believe. As for how those rogues got their hands on one of these... the most logical inference at this point is that they stole it. You are quite lucky. They don't order these in bulk as forging blades capable of chakra flow is expensive and more time consuming than regular blades, so for you to have one... you're pretty lucky," he concluded, placing the sword on his workbench. "I'll have to take some measurements to construct a scabbard for it. That will take a while."

Naruto nodded. "No problem. I'm just glad you're doing it for free."

"Hmph!" Gikan waved off his gratitude. "Consider it an early birthday gift."

Naruto's eyes widened. 'Oh, fuck me! It's nearly my birthday and I haven't even thought about it!' Naruto looked to the clock across the room. It was only little over a week till he turned fourteen.

"Forgot about your own birthday, did you?" Gikan observed with a amused cackle. "You may want to take the soon-to-be Godaime's assistant's advice to heart. If you can hardly remember when it is your birthday, you need some time off."

Naruto subconsciously placed a hand on his tantō, hanging at his hip. "Yeah... I guess so. It's been a while since I hung out with my friends." Naruto couldn't remember the last time he had an actual day off without having any missions, errands to run, or training. He had turned into a workaholic without evening noticing it until now. It was the simplest true: he had been throwing himself into his career almost nonstop since his promotion. Thinking of it made him realise how unhealthy that actually was. He hadn't even pulled a prank in months.

Naruto shook his head. "Right, I'll see to it I get some time off." A bit late for that, though, considering Shizune had cleared him for active duty only an hour ago. 'Still no excuse to not at least grab a bite to eat with the guys every now and then. Hell, I still owe Neji a rematch.'

"There something wrong with your tantō, Uzumaki-san?" Shiho asked with a concerned look; his expression had gone blank for a moment.

Realising he was gripping the handle of his tantō, Naruto shook his head quickly. "What- no, I'm fine. Thanks. Say, what do you do for fun, Shiho-chan?" Naruto asked her, curious whether the female genius ever went out and did something.

Apparently not, as she shrugged uncertainly. 'No surprise there,' Naruto thought dryly for a moment. Then he felt guilty, and like an ass for making the presumption, even if it was spot on. 'She did say she had a tough time making friends when she was younger...' He could relate to that. Sure, he was a hell of a lot more outgoing than she was and at times even shamelessly so, but friends did not come easy to him. He found friendship in Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba when he was younger, but this ragtag band of friends fell apart over time as they grew older and it became inappropriate to 'play ninja' or cut class...

"Hey, Shiho-chan, let's make some time to do something!" Naruto suggested a little louder than Gikan, who was now on the other side of the room taking measurements, appreciated. "Sorry," Naruto quickly apologised to the old man. "But seriously, let's do something," Naruto suggested to Shiho. "I haven't seen my friends in a long while, I was thinking of inviting them all to a meal. You should come!"

Shiho shook her head immediately, but offered no coherent response. "No, I- I couldn't! I- you know... I'm not good with- I'm sorry, I just can't..."

"Come on, Shiho-chan!" Naruto said to her. "It'll be a lot of fun. I'm sure my friends will like you. There's no need to be shy, and if it's about money, don't worry, it's my treat! I got paid for an S-ranked mission, so I'll be able to treat everyone – even Chōji, and that guy can EAT, if you know what I mean."

Shiho grew a little less timid, a red tinge on her cheeks. "Is... Is Nara-san going to be there?"

"What?" Naruto blinked a few times. Then, getting it, his mouth turned O-shaped as it dawned on him: 'She likes Shikamaru! Who would've thought? She's so shy and timid... but I guess it's only natural for her to be attracted to guys. She _is_ a girl after all... but _Shikamaru_, of all people? If they had kids, they'd be bone-lazy _and_ smart.' It took far greater self-control than he was proud of to stop himself from smiling knowingly and nodding at her. "Yeah, that cheap sloth never misses out on a free meal. He'll definitely be there. In fact," Naruto dug the hole before he could back out, "I'm sure he'll be happy if you come. He thinks you're really great, you know?" That was stretching the truth to the breaking point, but it wasn't lying – _technically._

"But I-"

"No buts, Shiho. You're going," Gikan fell in sternly. "Consider it an experiment, if you want to. Yeah, that's sounds about right. Go out and experiment in interacting with your peers."

Having never even thought of disobeying a direct order, Shiho dared not to resist any longer. "OK, Uzumaki-san, if you'll have me, I'll be glad to tag along."

"Great!" Naruto patted her on the shoulder. "You might want to change in something more comfortable when we go though," he told her. He briefly entertained the thought of her going on in her lab coat. She visibly flinched at that, but he had a way with people. "You'll be fine. You know, you're really cute, even if you don't think so yourself."

Shiho's blush turned her entire face red as she gave an incoherent squeak and charged off to do some work on the far side of the laboratory. Naruto shrugged with a smile and walked over to Gikan, who leaned back from his workbench, just about finished with taking measurements.

"I'll be able to construct a sword sheath in no time," Gikan answered his curious gaze at the newly drawn sketches of swords sheathes with numbers scribbled next to them. "I'll have it sent to you when it's done. In the meantime though, I need to you try something out for me." Gikan smiled deviously, sending a involuntary shiver down the chūnin's back.

With a sense of dread, Naruto gave a nod. The last time he did Gikan a 'favour', he was struck with a cane so many times; he could've sworn he forgot the first year of academy. "OK, sure. Sounds fair, _I guess._"

"One moment." Gikan pushed back his swivel chair to his other workbench, where he had been working on another project. With a flare of theatrics, he pulled of the cloth and revealed what he had been working on: a smooth metallic forearm protector. Its metal was light metallic silver and appeared to have been polished thoroughly as it gleamed brighter than his kodachi.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

Gikan's devious grin widened. "This is my first project in years, Uzumaki. It's a new piece of equipment I designed for Konoha's ANBU." The scientist held up the contraption with both hands and offered it to Naruto. "Try it on," he said with a series of encouraging nods. "The metal is of my own design. Feel how light it is? Balanced and deadly, I expect."

"I haven't got it on yet, old man," Naruto informed with a sweat-drop as he carefully held the contraption by the smooth underside and slipped his left hand in it. "Woah." Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed how light the armguard was despite its appearance. "I can barely feel it."

"Yes, yes!" Gikan nodded repeatedly. "It is forged from the finest minerals from Kōseki no Kuni; very rare and expensive, but undoubtedly the best for forging weapons. Go on, try it out!" Gikan said encouragingly.

Naruto looked at the smooth surface of the forearm protector. "How?" he asked dumbly.

"Why, channel your chakra into it, of course!" Gikan said as though stating the obvious.

"Alright," Naruto agreed with a shrug. Fortunately, his chakra control had improved by leaps and bounds in the past few months, so it was relatively easy to channel it into the armguard. The results were instantaneous. The silvery metal gleamed brightly for a few seconds before five, short, jagged and curved blades protruded from the previously smooth surface. **(2) **"Holy fuck!" Naruto exclaimed. "That is amazing!" The protruding blades reflected brightly in his eyes. "What is that?" Naruto asked, impressed with the invention.

"Doesn't it? Doesn't it? I told you, didn't I?" Gikan rambled with exuberant enthusiasm. "This is only a prototype. Feel free to use it! Swing it around!"

And Naruto did, though at first he felt like an idiot swinging around aimlessly, but once he caught himself in a reflection, he realised the deadliness of the protruding blades on the armguard. "These are supposed to keep you from falling off constructs you can't climb with chakra right? Like the great walls around the village or a ravine," Naruto added with a sour expression. He remembered how it was seemingly impossible to stick himself to anything that time Jiraiya threw him down a ravine. "Yeah, I can see how these could be useful. How does it work in an actual fight though? This seems like an awkward way of fighting someone." Naruto swung his arm for emphasise. "Maybe if you backhand someone or... I see," he realised out loud. "It's a good way of defending against weapons when you're in a fight, I can _definitely _imagine that being useful."

"Precisely!" Gikan exclaimed. The older man hobbled off and came back moments later with a wooden baseball bat and a standard issue ninjatō in his hands. "I need you to defend yourself against these using only the armguard I have given you."

'Yeah, like hell I'm going to let you do that,' Naruto thought with a dry expression, knowing full well the old man had a tendency to get overexcited. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

_Poof!_

"Perfect, this allows me to make accurate observations!" Gikan readily agreed with the usage of the B-ranked kinjutsu.

Naruto's clone took the weapons out of the old man's hand and retreated a safe distance in the spacious room. Giving his clone a nod, the original braced himself as it came running at him, swinging the bat.

_Crack!_

With hardly any effort the bat broke as it made contact with the armguard. Gikan gave an excited, "Yes, excellent!" as he made notes and Naruto pried the remaining pieces of wood from the protruding metal blades.

He gave a nod to his clone, and shortly after deflected an incoming kunai with a swipe of his hand.

"Just like I had hoped!" Gikan claimed.

Then the clone came running at the original with the sword held above its head. Naruto stepped back and made another swiping motion with his arm, hooking the blade and pulling it away from his as he countered with a right hook, dispelling the clone in an instant.

_Poof!_

"Excellent, excellent!" Gikan continued to scribble notes down at a speedy rate. "Shiho, did you see any of that?"

"Yes, Gikan-sensei, I am making my own notes!" Shiho replied from the other side of the testing area. Naruto had almost forgotten she was there.

Naruto moved to pull the armguard off, "OK, it works great. Where can I leave this?" he asked as it the blades retracted and the armguard reverted to its smooth-surfaced form.

"On your arm," Gikan replied, looking up from his notepad. "Consider it another early birthday gift from Shiho and I."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest but the old man wouldn't have any of it and threw a random device that had been lying around at the blond. "Just take it, Uzumaki! I can easily construct another. Such impudence! Did no one ever teach you to not refuse any gifts? It's rude."

Naruto caught the device with ease in his right hand and placed it on a workbench as he approached the scientist, briefly noting it was a newer version of the chakra sensor he had broken only a few weeks ago. "Thanks for the gift, old man," Naruto gave a respectful bow of the head, and then with a wink and a smile to Shiho. "You guys look busy so I better get going," Naruto replied as he pulled the armguard back on and head towards the exit.

"See you, Naruto-kun!" Shiho called after him.

"Hmh, yes, another time!"

-ooo-

(Ichiraku Ramen Bar)

Naruto pushed aside the high curtains as he entered the small establishment and sat at his usual spot by the counter, greeting Ayame with a grin as he sat down. "Heya, Ayame-chan, where's the old man?" he asked, noticing Teuchi's absence.

"Hi, Naruto-kun." Ayame gave a frustrated sigh as she cleaned the counter with a wipe of a cloth. "Dad had an accident. Slipped over some spoiled ramen and banged his head pretty badly a few days ago. I sent him home, thinking he would be back to work soon, but it looks like we'll have to contact a doctor or go to the hospital."

"Ouch," Naruto winced empathically. "Well, give him my best."

Ayame nodded, "Will do," then she pulled out a notepad and a pen from her smock pocket. "So, what will you have today, Naruto-kun?"

"Uh, let's see," Naruto looked at the newly printed menu put on a stand on the counter. "What's the Inauguration Special?" he asked her with a curious look. "I haven't had that one before."

"Oh, you know, a special meal Dad thought of with the inauguration festival in mind. He think it'll be good for business," Ayame informed with a shrug. Clearly, she didn't share her father's optimism on that front, and Naruto couldn't blame her. This wasn't the first time old man Teuchi came up with a new meal for a special occasion; those usually never lasted, and he would know, if anyone, considering he ate here most of the time.

"Inauguration festival?" Naruto asked a moment later, having blanked on that for a second. "Oh, right! How could I forget, Tsunade-bachan's becoming the Godaime?" Naruto grinned at Ayame. "Sounds like fun."

Ayame nodded, but her expression was downcast. "Unfortunately, with Dad not working in the past few days, we haven't made enough money to hire extra staff, so that means I'll probably have to work."

"Hmm," Naruto scanned over the meal, noting the Inauguration Special was the most expensive meal on the menu. "OK, I'll have uh... six bowls of the inauguration special!" Naruto ordered, pulling out his wallet and counting ryō bills. Odds were he wasn't going to finish all six, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least try and help out the girl who had been one of the very, very few people that tolerated his presence growing up. "Here," Naruto paid her the ryō bills, adding a generous tip. When she opened her mouth to protest, Naruto barked at her irritably. "Come on! What are you waiting for, I'm hungry!" he complained with feigned impatience.

Ayame rolled her eyes at him, but he knew she was smiling when she turned around to drop the money in the register.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure Market – Kendo's Store for Shinobi Appliances)

Bells ringed as Naruto pushed the door and entered the store, feeling so full he was surprised he fitted through the door. 'Me and my altruism,' Naruto grumbled as he felt his stomach churn with nausea.

This was the place he usually went to to get his shinobi equipment. The owner sold them for considerably cheaper than the other two or three stores he had visited before this one. He could afford to go to other store now, but just because he got paid out big time for his A-ranked turned S-ranked mission to retrieve Tsunade with Jiraiya, didn't mean he would suddenly stop coming to the same place he had been going for years. The quality of the merchandise was always up to scratch, albeit not as good as he could get, but it was relatively cheap and the shopkeeper didn't give him the good old stink-eye whenever he visited him.

"Back again, Uzumaki?" Kendo greeted from behind the counter as the blonde entered the shop with a sweeping gaze around him, taking in all of the latest products. Kendo was a middle aged man with long greying hair tied up in a ponytail and bangs going down the side of his head. He wore a brown shopkeeper's apron over his simple brown tunic. "It's been a while since I last saw you in here."

Naruto held up a greeting hand, nodding curtly. "Yeah, I've been real busy, old man Kendo. I've been on missions almost nonstop since I got promoted to chūnin."

"Well, good on you," Kendo nodded with a smile. "I saw your fight against that Hyūga kid a while back. You handled yourself a lot better than anyone thought you would – including me. No offence," the shopkeeper added.

"None taken," Naruto replied, walking down the few aisles of the tiny shop. Selection was minimal, but what he found what he was looking for: kunai and shuriken sets, some polishing oil for his weapons (he picked that up with his tantō and newly acquired kodachi in mind), some explosive tags and paper and ink for his fūinjutsu. The old man had given him some instructions on creating basic seals, but he hadn't gotten very far with it since he studied mostly ninjutsu in his spare time. Though if there was anything he learned from his latest mission, it was that ninjutsu was not the best approach for everything. **(3) **Sasaki hadn't used anything but kenjutsu against him, and for the most part, had dominated in their fight with _ease_. Naruto remembered he ought to be finding Lee and spar with the guy. Say what you want about Rock Lee, but the guy was incredibly strong. He was faster and physically stronger than any other genin in Konoha, including Naruto.

'I wonder if he's recovered from his fight with Gaara,' Naruto thought for a moment as he stocked up on sets of kunai. 'I haven't seen him since the preliminaries.'

The bells ringed again and a newcomer broke his thoughts. "Uzumaki?" Tenten appeared doubtful it was actually him. Fair enough, he had long since foregone the hideous orange and blue tracksuit. Plus, his hair had grown and, he liked to think, he had grown a bit taller. He couldn't blame her for not being able to recognise him instantly; they weren't even that friendly.

'Well speak of the devil- well, speak of the devil's teammate,' Naruto amended his thoughts. "Tenten, right?" He wasn't too sure. The last time he saw her, she was getting her ass handed to her by Gaara's sister, Temari. 'Better not to open dialogue with that line of thought,' Naruto thought.

"You come here to?" Tenten asked; an intrigued glance on his bracer that went unnoticed by him.

'Figures she would,' Naruto thought. It was certainly a hell of a lot cheap to get equipment here. "Yeah, though it's been a while since I've been here." Naruto browsed the stand in front of him for a moment. "So, have you been up to lately?" he asked, preferring Smalltalk over silence.

Tenten shrugged. "Not much, really. I mean, going on missions is a lot different without Lee... It's just not the same." Naruto looked up at this.

"Without Lee?" he repeated curiously. 'Did the spandex-wearing ball of energy get promoted or something?' Naruto decided to ask. "What's Lee doing now?"

Tenten's expression remained thoughtful for a moment. "You've been really busy, haven't you?" Naruto nodded to this, waiting for her continue with increasingly growing curiosity. "Lee... he stopped being a shinobi a while ago."

Naruto's eyes widened. Did he hear that right? Rock Lee, of all people, giving on something – being a shinobi no less? "You're kidding!" he exclaimed. Tenten shook her head, prompting him to ask, "What happened?"

"Sabaku no Gaara," Tenten said coldly. "He completely crushed Lee's legs. He won't be able to fight ever again."

"Gaara?" Naruto said the name for the first in a long while; his voice didn't sound like his own. "Gaara ended his career?"

Tenten nodded, her expression softening at the depressing thought. "Yeah...," she smiled a little, though it looked forced. "I heard Tsunade-sama of the Sannin has returned to Konoha. They say she's going to be the Godaime Hokage. Maybe she can heal Lee's injuries, but even so... I'm not sure if she will. I mean, it's _Tsunade-sama_."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto told her with a reassuring smile. If there was anyone that could help Lee, it would be Tsunade. If she was capable of bringing him back from the verge of death, from a state not even Kyūbi's chakra could heal, then she could help Lee. He just knew it. "She might not act like it, but she's a nice lady. I'm sure if we ask her, she'll do her best."

"You know her?" Tenten sounded doubtful, as though she expected he was telling tall tales. "Really?"

Naruto subconsciously touched the Shodai's necklace tucked under his shirt, the memory of how he had won it still fresh in his mind. "Yeah," Naruto confirmed confidently. "I went with Ero-sennin on the mission to bring her back to Konoha. She's taken a liking to me, so I think I can convince her to take a look at Lee-"

"Thank you!" Tenten took his hand in hers and shook them vigorously, an expression of relief on her face. "Thank you so much, Naruto. Do you think you can introduce her to me? I've admired her nearly my entire life."

"You have?" Naruto asked. It was a fresh reminder of the Sannin's reputation across the world. 'I guess I really should count myself lucky,' Naruto thought as he remembered Jiraiya's words to him on their mission: _"Would it pain you so much to show a little respect? You got any idea what people would give to be my apprentice? Seriously, you're the luckiest kid in Konoha to have me as your master."_

Naruto gave a shake of his head. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. That would be kind of weird. Why don't you just visit her on your own? She's scary as all hell, but she's nice if you get to know her. Just be polite, and definitely do not ask about her age or call her Onibaba... That _never_ goes well." Cold sweat broke down Naruto's face. The beatings she gave him were supposed to be gentle in comparison to what she was capable of dishing out, but really, it was a lot harder than it ought to be to tell the difference between her brand of tough love and aim-to-kill beatings.

Tenten looked disappointed for a moment, but nodded nonetheless. "Thank you, Naruto. I'm sure Gai-sensei will be ecstatic with the news. What is she like?" Tenten had an excited glint in her eye as she got in his face; Naruto took a subconscious step back neither of them noticed.

"How can I put this without completely destroying your image for her?" Naruto wondered out loud, causing her to smile.

"You're exaggerating," Tenten claimed.

Naruto grinned at her with a shake of his head. "Let me put it this way, if alcoholism and violent outbursts were good traits, she'd be the best role model in the world." He couldn't help but smile at Tenten's oblivious expression. "I'm kidding. She's great."

"Lee will be so happy to hear he might have a shot at making a comeback. He's been kind of out of it for a while. He just sits there and doesn't say anything when we visit him, not even to Gai-sensei..." Tenten looked once again saddened.

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "Everything will be fine," he said to her with such confidence, Lee might as well have already been doing five hundred laps around Konoha. Tenten smiled back and nodded, "You're right. Lee will be fine!"

"So how's Neji?" Naruto asked, changing the subject. "Is he still wrapped up in that whole fatalistic bullshit of his?"

She shook her head with a laugh. "No, I think you really got through to him. He's been a lot... _nicer_ to us lately. He's even participated in Gai-sensei's ridiculous endeavours to heal Lee. He's also been training a lot with Hiashi-sama lately – the Hyūga clan leader," she elaborated when Naruto gave a curious look.

"Hinata's dad?" he asked.

"That's the one," Tenten nodded. "I think he's going to challenge you to a rematch sometime soon."

Naruto grinned at that. "That's fine by me. I'd like to see how much he improved. It was a close call the last time I faced him." About done with his shopping, Naruto left Tenten in the aisle by herself and walked over to the shopkeeper, Kendo.

"Hey, old man, are you interested in widening your selection?" Naruto asked as he put his items on the far side counter and placed his sealing scroll before the shopkeeper. "I found a few weapons you might be able to sell for a premium price."

Kendo gave him an appraising look. "Alright then, show me what you've got, Uzumaki. I can't promise you the best deal out there, but I'll give you a fair one."

Naruto pulled the scroll open and made half a tiger seal. "Kai." The weapons appeared in a neat row laid out in front of the shopkeeper: spears, daggers, hooked blades, short swords and a bow and arrow set. "I'll take the first reasonable digits you throw at me."

Kendo looked at the weapons, picking a few up by a random to examine the quality. "I'll give you 1100 ryō for all of them, plus a fifteen percent discount on everything you buy now," he added with a nod. "I can't do much better than that."

"Done," Naruto accepted the offer. They shook hands and Kendo opened up the register and counted out several ryō bills. Naruto peered over to see the register was almost empty; the lonesome shopkeeper must've been going through some bad times.

Tenten looked over Naruto's shoulder. "Hey, I'll give you 1200 for the enter set, Naruto."

"No can do." Naruto shook his head firmly. "We already shook hands," he told the kunoichi. She looked disappointed but quickly shrugged it off nonetheless. Naruto didn't feel guilty whatsoever, he had been coming to Kendo's since he was an academy student, so he wasn't about to screw over the man who had been so good to him over the years in terms of offers. The shopkeeper was fair and humble; it was why Naruto liked him so much.

They left shop soon after Naruto paid for his items and politely waited for Tenten to finish up ordering several weapons in bulk. He assumed since they were talking he was supposed to wait for her, so he did. "OK, my place is this way," Naruto said as they came up on a divergence in the road. "See you later, Tenten. I'll make sure to talk to Tsunade-bachan for Lee."

She waved at him as they parted, "Later, Naruto, and thanks!" Naruto watched her for a moment as she continued on per path down the road, wherever that took her.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure no Sato – Fragrant Leaf Tea House)

Jiraiya sat opposite Kakashi in the back of the tumulus tea house, leaned over the table as they in low tones. Their conversation was drowned out by the loud and boisterous atmosphere of the establishment, making it next to impossible for them to be overheard by unwanted eavesdroppers.

"He mastered the Rasengan? That's impressive..." Kakashi appeared to be genuinely pleased with the news. "How long did it take him?"

Jiraiya grinned at the question. "Three weeks, give or take," he answered, enjoying Kakashi's lone visible eye widening appreciatively. "It took me three months with Minato's help, and it took you little over two. Goes to show he's steadily surpassing us in ninjutsu."

"He _is_ sensei's son," Kakashi conceded with a nod. Sharingan no Kakashi knew full well the enormous talent the blonde possessed for ninjutsu. His ability to learn a B-ranked kinjutsu in the span of hours and summoning Gamabunta were undeniable feats that backed that up. "So, Tsunade-sama is going to officially accept the Godaime Hokage position soon?"

"Thanks to Naruto," Jiraiya clarified. "He has a way with her," he offhandedly elaborated to the scarecrow jōnin. "The Daimyō didn't even bother coming here in person. Instead he sent his delegates to formally vote on her." Jiraiya glanced at a timepiece nearby, "They should be about done by now. Tsunade's the perfect candidate, after all. Granddaughter of the Shodai, grandniece to the Nidaime, pupil of the Sandaime and one of the Densetsu no Sannin... she's perfect for the job."

"I agree," Kakashi agreed easily with a nod. "I'm just surprised Naruto managed to accomplish so much... learning the Rasengan and convincing her to become the Godaime."

Jiraiya seemed to agree with him, but didn't comment. Kakashi looked somewhat concerned as he realised something. "Naruto has been busy almost nonstop with missions since his promotion. That's can't be good. He's going to burnout sooner than later at this rate."

"I agree," Jiraiya nodded as took a sip from his tiny decorative cup, "But it's his decision. He's not the impulsive brat he used to be. Not as bad anyway. He's starting to calm down on his own; I don't want to interfere with that. If he burns out, he burns out. He's been his own man his entire life, and unless it affects his performance, which so far it hasn't, we should let him do as he pleases. We have no right to start telling him what he can and cannot do. We've reneged on that duty to long to start now."

Kakashi nodded, conceding to Jiraiya's wisdom. "Does he know of the Akatsuki yet?" Kakashi asked the Gama Sennin with a serious tone, clearly concerned for his former student. "His platoon has been assigned with tracking their movements in the country."

Jiraiya drank from tiny tea cup, eyeing Kakashi as the Copy Ninja voiced his other concerns. "They have no clue about Akatsuki's objective to collect the bijū," Jiraiya informed the son of Konoha's White Fang. "For the time being, all they know is that Akatsuki is an international crime organisation – which is true. Though I don't know how long before their mercenaries will be setting up strongholds in Hi no Kuni." Jiraiya gave a dry chuckle, though there wasn't anything amusing about it. "Who knows, maybe they already have."

"Does Tsunade-sama know?" asked Kakashi.

Jiraiya nodded and he gave a small smile. "Of course she does. She didn't seem to take too kindly to the fact Naruto might be targeted some time soon. Heh, for someone who says she hates kids, she sure has taken a liking to that kid," Jiraiya and Kakashi smiled at the irony. The sage placed his cup down on the table with a serious expression. "I'll be gone for a while soon, Kakashi," Jiraiya's smile disappeared completely now as he leaned closer to the Copy Ninja, "There's been talk of several minor countries with shinobi villages are colluding all over the continent. There's a lot of conflicting stories going around, but none of them sound much better than the other. The most consistent rumour I've heard so far is that Mizu no Kuni and Kirigakure are being targeted by an as of yet unnamed alliance. Kiri is the weakest of the Great Five if you don't count Sunagakure, but nobody's going to attack Suna on their turf, especially not with winter just around the corner. The heat over day and cold over night will make it impossible to efficiently wage war."

"They are targeting Kiri because it is the weakest link, having only recently ended the civil war. The new Mizukage is supposed to be powerful, but inexperienced, thus making Mizu the least protected country of the Great Five," Kakashi connected the dots out loud.

The Toad Sage nodded at him, appreciative of his deductions skills, which had saved him time explaining. "Tsunade-hime knows I will be departing soon. That's why I need you to keep an eye on Naruto till I get back." The white-mane legendary shinobi gave a sigh. "If worse comes to worse with Akatsuki, I'll have to take Naruto out of the village for a while..."

"So he can learn to control the Kyūbi safely?" Kakashi inferred.

Jiraiya stared at Kakashi with a blank expression for a while. Then, chuckling, he said, "Minato wasn't kidding. You are a sharp one." Kakashi eye-smiled at the compliment. "How is the Uchiha kid doing? Has Orochimaru's juinjutsu affected his behaviour much lately?" Jiraiya inquired as he leaned back into the booth they were sharing.

"No." The Copy Ninja shook his head as he leaned back into his booth. "He seemed to be distracted for a while when Naruto left, but he's improved a lot lately. It's incredible how much stronger he's become. Though," and Kakashi smiled at this, "If what you imply, and I trust your judgment, Naruto has become even stronger. That will likely have an adverse effect on Sasuke when they meet again. At this point, I'm fairly confident he has both an inferiority and superiority complex. He believes he's better than everyone around him, but at the same, feels the constant need to prove he is the best. I like to think he's changing little by little every day, but it appears the mental trauma caused by the Massacre is only being exacerbated by Orochimaru's juinjutsu. How long the Fūja Hōin I placed on him will last, I can't know for sure."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought. The Evil Sealing Method, though sound in theory, was risky to use as a counter against Orochimaru's juinjutsu as it relied on the subject's willpower not to tap into the Cursed Seal. That would be tough for anyone, to resist the euphoric power the seal granted, especially for someone like Sasuke, who valued power over anything else, including his comrades. The Uchiha youth would likely throw off the Fūja Hōin soon, if Kakashi's information was anything to go by. "The Fūja Hōin won't last for long," Jiraiya predicted with a grave tone and expression. "Nothing short of mind-enslaving methods will keep him in place, and even then it's doubtful. You have to get through to him somehow, Kakashi, or you will surely lose this one like Hiruzen-sensei lost Orochimaru."

Kakashi remained silent for a long moment, eyeing his untouched cup of tea. "What do you suggest?" the scarecrow shinobi asked the Gama Sennin. "I'm anxious in teaching him new jutsu. As soon as I teach him one thing, he demands another. He thinks I am holding him back." Kakashi gave a uncharacteristically downed sigh, troubled with the thought of his student defecting. "The second I taught him the Chidori, he wanted me to teach him the Raikiri. All in the name of avenging his clan."

"You're in a tough bind, I get that," Jiraiya acknowledged empathically, "But you need to put the kid straight and fast. He needs to find another purpose in life, or else he's going to cause a lot of pain to a lot of people. Not the least of who, you."

"You're right, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi nodded, placing down his _empty cup._

Jiraiya blinked a few times.

-ooo-

(Later That Day: Naruto's Apartment)

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Coming!" Naruto called as he rose from the couch he had been sleeping on. He yawned and stretched his arms as he reached the door and pulled it open.

Rei stood on his doorstep and eyed his dishevelled appearance with a deadpan expression as Naruto blinked at her a few times as though he forgot her name. "Is this a bad time?" she asked as Naruto stepped back inside, pulling the door aside to allow her into his apartment.

"Not really," Naruto yawned, turning back to his living room as Rei closed the door behind her. "What's up?" he asked, stifling another yawn as she sat down on his recliner opposite the couch he was sleeping on.

"You're tired," Rei stated the obvious. "You're never tired."

Naruto shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck with another yawn. "I didn't get much sleep on the road," Naruto replied. "So, what's up? If it's a mission, consider me to be selectively deaf. I'm way, _way _too tired for anything like that. Besides, the old lady told me to take some downtime, so tell Sarugaku to eat it."

"No mission," Rei shook her head with the same dry expression. Naruto was slurring to himself and his eyes were almost completely shut. "Where have you been these past weeks? We've been put at considerable discomfort thanks to you. Sarugaku blew a gasket when he found out you left without notice. And, who is this old lady you're talking about?"

Naruto pinched his cheeks and rubbed the dirt from his eyes. "Jiraiya enlisted me for a mission," he yawned loudly, "Yes, the same one you're thinking of," Naruto added when Rei opened her mouth. "We were looking for Tsunade. You're a medic nin, I assume you know who I'm talking about, right?"

"Of course, she is the greatest healer in the world!" Rei exclaimed uncharacteristically. "You met her?"

"She's going to be Godaime," Naruto replied tiredly. Upon seeing Rei's eyes widened, he gave her a confused look. "What?"

"You went looking for her with Jiraiya-sama?" Rei sounded incredulously.

Naruto shrugged, it wasn't as exciting as it sounded considering he nearly got three times on the mission. "It wasn't exactly _fun_," Naruto told her, getting up out of his couch and walking into his kitchen and retrieving two bottles of water. "So, why are you here?"

"You heard about the inauguration festival?" Rei inquired as she took one of the water bottles.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I did. Sounds like fun, don't you think?"

"Are you... going with anyone?" Rei asked him with an unreadable expression.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, and took a gulp of water for something to do. He briefly entertained the thought of asking out Sakura, purely out of habit, but as he thought about it, he shook his head. He hadn't seen in her in a long while now. Not only would it be _weird_, he didn't actually think he _wanted _to go out with her anymore. Sure, she was cute and had her moments, but he just didn't feel the same about her anymore. "I don't know. I haven't really given it any thought," he answered honestly.

"Good," Rei replied.

Naruto gave her a curious look. "Why is that?"

"Because, I was hoping you would go with me," Rei half asked and half stated calmly, though she looked a tiny bit embarrassing.

Naruto had to appreciate her straightforwardness. Usually, he would have thought, girls would wait to be asked out, but here she was, asking him out instead. A few months ago, he would've been over the moon and jumping around the place like the hyperactive idiot he was. Not to say he wasn't as glad she asked him now, but he knew how to better handle it. "Why didn't I think of that?" Naruto asked out loud, smiling at his teammate.

"Why didn't you?" Rei asked him.

He shrugged. "Girls don't tend to consider me as dating material," he told her truthfully. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I think you're great and you're _very_ attractive, but I didn't even consider that you would be remotely interested in me."

"It's just a festival, Naruto," Rei replied dryly, smiling a little at hearing he found her attractive.

"Right, well, my answer is yes - _definitely_ yes," Naruto grinned at her. "It'll be fun."

Rei smiled at him, and he realised for the first time how beautiful she was.

"I'll have to buy an actual hakama or something," Naruto thought scratching his cheek, a little _giddy _with the thought of actually having a date. "That can wait though," he announced as he reached for his flak jacket at the end of the couch and throwing it on. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Rei asked with a questioning look.

Naruto looked at her, blinking a few times. "I just remembered promising to teach you how to summon. I mean, you are still interested in that, aren't you?"

Rei smiled again.

-ooo-

(Cha no Kuni)

Two figures in black, red cloud patterned cloaks walked side by side down a dirt road in silence. One was significantly taller and muscular than the other, towering over his partner by nearly a full foot. He had a distinctive shark-like appearance: pale blue-grey skin tone, dull blue hair, small, round white eyes, gill-like facial markings under his eyes and sharp triangular teeth. Resting on his shoulder and covered by a thick layer of bandages was a large sword, on which two unmoving men were balanced out on. They appeared to be dead.

The second figure was significantly shorter and lighter of built. Pale and black, silky hair coming down in jaw-length bangs. Though not as distinctive looking as his partner, the second figure's eyes were set permanently set in the highly regarded, fully matured Uchiha sight: the Sharingan.

"What's the score now, Itachi?" asked the taller of the two.

Itachi smoothly withdrew a bingo book from within his cloak and calmly flipped past the pages. "With the Hanagiri Kyōdai added, our score is now twelve bounties... Kisame."

"Not bad," Kisame nodded appreciatively, his sharp teeth set in a perpetual grin. "These two didn't exactly live up to their reputation though. Tche, _flower ninjutsu? _What a pathetic bunch."

Itachi appeared not to hear him at first, taking the beautiful countryside of Tea Country as they walked past several natural grown flowerbeds. "They rarely do, Kisame. You, of all people, should know this better than anyone."

"Meh. I blame Kakuzu," Kisame said with a glance over his shoulder to the corpses balanced on his Samehada. "His guys completely eradicated the entire Hanagiri Clan save for these two in mere days. The smoke we saw the other day was probably coming from the remains of their village."

"Perhaps," Itachi drawled, clearly more interested in the beauty of the environment than his companion's complaining. "Kisame, I have a favour to ask of you."

Kisame looked perplexed. "A favour?" he repeated, as though he wasn't quite confident he had heard that right. Itachi was usually far too reserved to ask for any favours, but as the young Uchiha had won his respect by proving to be the more skilled of the two, Kisame gave an encouraging nod. "Sure. Name it."

-ooo-

(Konohagakure, Training Ground 22)

Naruto waited patiently as Rei took her time carefully writing her name in the scroll with a brush and ink he provided her with from his fūinjutsu kit. He looked up to the sky, noting how the sun wouldn't be up for much longer. "OK, let's get started," he said once she was done writing her name in skilful calligraphy. "The toughest part to summoning is summoning the boss summon of the kin you're trying to summon. I don't know how it goes with other summons, but with the toads, you have to summon the Boss and prove your worth. You've seen how big Gamabunta and Gamahiro are, summoning them was tough. It took me forever because my chakra control was as crap as it got, but you, you're lucky. It's the opposite with you. You don't have a whole lot of chakra, I mean, no offence, but compared to mine, we're comparing a puddle to an ocean. Anyway, getting to the point, though you might not have a lot of chakra, your chakra control sure as hell beats mine, but like I said, this going to be tough, so don't expect to summon anything as big as... that... _thing_ on your first try." Naruto scratched his head. 'What the hell was it again? I could've sworn I knew it...'

"Ferret," Rei clarified helpfully.

"Right, the tube-shaped rat thing," Naruto said simplistically. "You won't be able to summon anything that big on your first time, or ever, but we'll jump that bridge when we get there. Let's just try and summon a ferret, the size doesn't matter."

"OK, what are the hand seals?" Rei asked, looking at him expectantly.

"Oh, right! You don't know the hand seals yet," Naruto realised. "Sorry about that, I'm used to being the student." He chuckled as he slowly went through the hand seals: boar, dog, bird and ram, noting how her intently her eyes rested on his hands as she memorised them. "OK, now you."

Rei went through the hand seals flawlessly, having memorised the short chain on the first go. "Good," Naruto praised her with a grin. "OK, now before you actually place your hand down, you need to make a blood offering."

"What?" Rei looked appalled.

Naruto laughed again. "It's no big deal, really," he went through the hand seals and bit his thumb, drawing a miniscule line of blood. "See? Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto placed his hand on the ground, forcing a tiny amount of chakra through the technique.

_Poof!_

**"Oi, Naruto! Long time no see!" **Gamakichi greeted friendlily as he appeared between the blonde and his teammate. **"Woah, who is the cute one? Your new?"** he held up his pinkie. **"You move quick, bro! Gamakichi approves!"**

Rei looked at Naruto with another one of her unreadable expression; Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sweat-drop. "He's talking about my old teammate," Naruto elaborated. Then turning to Gamakichi, he patted the toad on the head. "Been a while, Gamakichi. How's your brother?"

**"Gamatatsu? He's doing great, thanks for asking."**

"Alright, thanks, Gamakichi. I just summoned you to show my student how it's done," Naruto grinned at Rei, noting her begrudging smile. "I'll give you lots of sweets next time, OK?"

**"You got it, Boss! See ya!"**

_Poof!_

"So what did he mean with," Rei held up her pinkie finger, "An old girlfriend?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, he meant my old teammate. I had a crush on her since we were kids, but she never quite thought the same about me." Naruto noted how he said 'had' without any previous thought. 'Maybe I am over her. I guess I have been for a while now,' he realised.

"Why not?"

"What?" he replied, confused. "What do you mean?"

Rei looked at him with that some unreadable expression again. "Why didn't she return your feelings?" she repeated.

He shrugged; he didn't quite have the answer for that, at least not a clear one. He knew she liked Sasuke, and had liked him for almost as long as he liked her, but a part of him, he now realised, was angry with the rosette for not returning his feelings. "I don't know. It's in the past."

"Right," Rei went through the necessary hand seals. "Well, I think you're a nice person."

Naruto smiled at her. "Thank you."

She didn't reply, but instead bit her thumb and placed her palm on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

_Poof!_

**"What the...? Where am I?" **Naruto gave a low whistle as a reasonable-sized ferret appeared. It was foot and a half tall, sandy-brown coloured ferret with beady eyes appeared. It was wore unusual attire: a black waist coat, a monocle and a small, black hat. **"Kigiri-sama?" **the ferret faced the opposite direction of Naruto and Rei, clearly the monocle wasn't doing much good.

"Yeah, no, he's dead," Naruto stated bluntly.

The ferret jumped with a shriek and turned around. **"Where did you come from? Who summoned me, speak humans!" **the ferret demanded.

"I did," Rei replied.

Noticing her for the first time, the ferret's jaw dropped and his eyes widened so much, his monocle dropped. **"I approve!" **the ferret screeched, his nostrils flaring lecherously as he jumped up to embrace Rei, his tiny hands making groping motions.

_Crack!_

Rei raised her fist as the ferret rolled on the ground in agony. Naruto burst out laughing so loudly he fell on his behind, holding his stomach. "Oh, that is so rich!" Naruto howled with laughter.

His teammate was not amused, and gave him an angry look, which only increased with his poor attempts at stifling his laughter. "What is your name?" Rei asked the ferret.

**"My name is Shimizu," **the ferret replied with more ill found dignity. **"I am the liaison of the noblest house of ferrets. You say you summoned me?"**

Rei nodded. "That's right."

**"What happened to Kigiri-sama? I don't see him."**

"Dead," Naruto replied in Rei's stead. "I killed him."

Shimizu looked puzzled for a moment. **"Ah, too bad. I quite like the man, he wrote fine poetry,"** Shimizu drawled pompously, scurrying over to the scroll on his hind legs. **"Ah, such is the way of life! OK, woman, I approve of your – I approve of _you!_"** Shimizu quickly amended. **"Got ink?"** it asked Naruto.

Naruto looked at the ferret and blinked.

Shimizu blinked back, adjusting his monocle in a pompous fashion.

For the next five minutes Naruto roared with laughter, much to Rei's confusion and Shimizu's annoyance. It took far greater effort than Naruto was proud of to stop, but then again, he doubted anyone with some much as a grain of humour wouldn't have reacted in the same situation. A perverted, pompous looking, monocle-wearing ferret who he could've sworn looked liked a shorter, harrier Jiraiya was just too much not to laugh at.

**"I do say! Are you done?" **Shimizu adjusted his monocle with an embarrassed flush.

Rei face-palmed as Naruto bit his fist to refrain from laughing. "Are you done?"

It was a significant while later (again, he wasn't proud) when Naruto regained his composure and Shimizu dabbed his paw in ink and smeared his signature above Rei's name in the same box on the summoning scroll, ending it with a pretentious flourish. **"That about does it."**

"Thank you, Shimizu-san," Rei thanked the ferret. "What do I have to do now?"

**"Now you summon ferrets until you find one that agrees to become your familiar, Nakamura-san," **Shimizu informed as he smoothed his fur with a pointed glare at Naruto, who had to bite the inside of his cheek to refrain from outright laughing in the summon's face. **"OK then. Good day."**

_Poof!_

"Well, that went a lot smoother than I thought it would, you know, all things considered," Naruto shrugged, a little light headed from all the laughing. "Now I just need to teach Shikamaru how to summon deer and that'll be that. Where is he anyway?" Naruto asked her. "Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru's old sensei, said he was on a mission."

Rei nodded. "With you gone, we had to interchange on a regular basis with another team. The others are scheduled to return to day, I believe," she informed him. "They are on an A-ranked mission to Otafaku Gai with several other teams to capture Akatsuki bankers."

"Otafaku Gai? I've been there- Akatsuki?" Naruto then asked. Then his mouth took a perfect O-shape. "Oh, right, the international criminal organisation we're supposed to tracking in Hi no Kuni. Shit! They went on an A-ranked mission without me? Damn." It wasn't exactly like he hadn't had enough action lately, but still; he would've loved to have been a part of it.

"Yes, the Nijū Shōtai is working in tandem with several other platoons. Shikamaru was called upon to lead a team personally."

Naruto frowned: he really wished he was a part of that mission. "Anything new I should know about Akatsuki?" he asked, realising how Rei must've been feeling the same.

"Yes," Rei replied. "There was talk of a failed ambush by the ANBU. There was a supposed tip off about the Akatsuki leader's location, but none of the ANBU returned. Though, this took place a week before we were briefed on them. It was only declassified a few days ago, the same day Nara took off."

"An entire ANBU squad failed to take down the leader?" Naruto asked increduously. That was a tough pill to swallow; the ANBU department was supposed to be compromised out of Konoha's finest, most elite shinobi. "Tche! Tsunade-bachan is going to be in a bad mood when she hears about that."

Rei looked him with a thoughtful expression. "You've grown close to Tsunade-sama, haven't you?" she observed easily. "Is she fine with calling you that?"

He responded with a shrug. He wasn't too sure how to answer that without sounding _weird. _On one hand, he knew she acknowledged him, and because of that, a part of him had grown fond of him, but on the other hand, she also had a penchant for beating him senseless. 'Then again, if I'm honest, I usually have it coming to some degree,' Naruto mused. "I don't know, she treats me like a kid, but she's not too bad. Just... don't piss her off."

"Why would I do that?"

Naruto gave a shiver. "Just, whatever you do, do not call her Onibaba or mention her age," he warned for the second time today. He was sure he had picked up some trauma as he shivered again and swallowed thickly. "She. Does. Not. Like. It. At. All."

He promptly turned around and walked off, a hand in parting as he left Rei to her own devices. "See ya later, Rei-chan!"

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"

-ooo-

(Market District)

Naruto walked down the dirt road as he headed towards the large stadium where the inauguration festival would be held. He hadn't been there in months; he was actually looking forward to see how much it had changed since the inauguration of Tsunade had been announced. 'Knowing her, she'd probably want a huge bronze replica of herself,' Naruto smiled at the thought.

"Naruto-niichan!"

Coming to a stop, Naruto noticed Konohamaru and his friends running over with his friends, Udon and Moegi. "Hey, you three," Naruto greeted. "Woah, how long has it been since I saw you guys?" Naruto exclaimed as he realised Konohamaru's small, but no less noticeable, growth spurt. "You're taller than I remember you to, all of you," Naruto observed, ruffling Konohamaru's hair.

"You too, Naruto-niichan!" Konohamaru nodded. "Where have you been? Jiichan told me you were promoted and that you were out of the village a lot. What did you do – did you fight a lot of strong guys?"

"Or girls?" Moegi added with a sour expression aimed at Konohamaru, which went unnoticed.

Naruto grinned at them; he still quite liked these kids, even if he didn't spend all that much time with them lately. "I sure did, I met a lot of strong people," Naruto told them. "It was scary at times, but it was a lot of fun too."

"You learned any new jutsu, Naruto-niichan?" Moegi asked excitedly.

Naruto rubbed his chin, feigning to be in deep thought. "Well, I guess so. Why, do you want to see a few?"

"Yes, please, Naruto-niisan," Udon nodded, accompanied by Moegi and Konohamaru's fervent nods.

As Naruto looked down on their excited faces, he was struck with something. 'One day soon, I'm going to be a jōnin. That means I'll have to take on a team of genin,' he realised, with a small smile that mystified the three academy students in front of him. "Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon... how would you three like to study ninjutsu a little early?"

As expected, they were _fucking ecstatic._

"Yes! Do you really mean it, Naruto-niichan?" Konohamaru asked excitedly whilst Moegi and Udon looked at him expectantly.

Naruto had to laugh at their excited cries of joy. 'Yeah, I can totally see myself as a sensei,' Naruto thought with a nod, envisioning himself seated behind a desk in Hokage attire, debriefing three adult versions of Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. If Jiraiya and the Sandaime before him had raised great shinobi, then so could he, right? "Alright, then it's settled. Sometime soon, I'll make some time for us to get started."

"What will we be doing, Naruto-niisan?" Udon asked.

Naruto grinned holding up one finger. "We'll start with the most basic step: chakra control." As expected, Konohamaru's expression fell, as did Udon's, whereas Moegi's excited expression remained. "Don't underestimate the importance of chakra control. I did, and it came to bite me in the ass big time."

"Alright!" Konohamaru punched the air. "When do we start, Naruto-niichan?"

Naruto had to admire his enthusiasm; it was identical to his own. "Soon," he answered vaguely, deliberately so as his Konohamaru's rapidly changing expressions were just too amusing. "Now, where were you guys headed anyway?"

"We were going to see how far along the inauguration preparations have come, Naruto-niisan," Udon answered, pointing a finger to the stadium where the Chūnin Exams had been held. "Do you want to go and see with us, Naruto-niichan?" Moegi asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Sure, why not."

...

The stadium was well under way of being prepared; they could see that as soon as they neared it. On the outside, the dome was plastered with promotional notices and 'under construction' warnings. Naruto was about to turn around when the Konohamaru corps disregarded the warning notices and ran inside excitedly.

"Hold on, you three!" Naruto jogged after them through the halls as they climbed the stairs and headed to the seating area. "Woah," Naruto breathed as he came to a stop behind them. They were leaning over the safety railings; provided with a perfect view of what goes on.

The entire stadium had been revamped into a more spacious and sectional building. A large podium was set up at the far end of the fighting area; work crews overseen by shinobi were carrying lights and decorations and other items Naruto couldn't quite see from the distance.

"Hey, let's take a closer look!" Konohamaru announced. Before Naruto could say anything, the young Sarutobi ran down the steps along with his friends and reached the centre of the stadium, where only months ago, Naruto had defeated Neji.

Naruto sighed. "I guess this is what Kakashi-sensei had to deal with," he noted, fully aware of how Konohamaru was pretty much a carbon copy of himself, personality-wise. "Come on, Konohamaru, you shouldn't be down there!" Naruto called after them.

Then Naruto noticed something in the corner of his eye. In the distance, he saw a cloaked figure run over the edges of the stadium's open corners, seemingly going through a string of hand seals. Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Konohamaru!"

The name had barely left his mouth when suddenly a series of loud explosions went off all over the building site.

_BOOM! BOOM!_

"Shit!" Naruto jumped over the safety railings and ran over to the three as the open ceiling began to fall down in giant chunks. "Damn it!" Naruto shouted as he ran faster than he had ever done before, pumping chakra through his legs.

Naruto heard screams resounding all over the place.

As he neared the Konohamaru corps, the largest piece of ceiling yet came crashing down on them.

"Naruto-niichan!"

_BOOM!_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

Cliff-hanger no Jutsu!

Not really, it's all good though. OK, as I'm writing this, I am running later for a meeting, so yeah, leave me a **review** with your thoughts on this chapter! Will revise the last scene with the Konohamaru Corps, since it's not fully edited yet. OK, that's it, I'm running really later.

See y'all later!

**Notes**

**(1) **The only clan, that we know of, in the Naruto world that uses instruments, is the Shiiin Clan, who happen to be aligned with Otogakure. Hence, logic dictates Tayuya is most likely a member of this clan.

**(2) **Think of the armguards of Shredder, the villain in TMNT. You know, those bad ass bladed bracers he used.

**(3) **A lesson he had to learn: throwing around ninjutsu does not always work.


	10. Chapter 10: In the Midst of Confusion

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 23-12-11_

_Updated: 11-01-12_

**_A quick update thanks to many reviews I got on the previous chapter. I didn't see the point in waiting the full week before posting this bad boy, so fuck it, here it is people, and I hope you enjoy it. Tomorrow it will be the 6 month anniversary of Naruto: Potential Realised, so yay for me. _**

**_Credit goes to Jacobus Negromante for fixing up the errors in this chapter._**

**_Don't forget to review, it makes my heart sing!_**

* * *

><p>CH10: In the Midst of Confusion<p>

* * *

><p>(Hokage Tower)<p>

"More paperwork?" Tsunade growled as Shizune came into her office with another stack of files and folders, smiling nervously at the sight of her master's scowl. "Put them there," Tsunade motioned to the six or so other foot-tall stacks of papers she had yet to go through. A migraine was steadily building up her in head. "Damn those bastards," the Godaime leaned back in her office chair, rubbing her temples. She must have been going at it for at least a good two or three hours of nothing but mind numbing paperwork.

Shizune put the files away and took her place standing behind Tsunade, overlooking her work ethic in case she slacked off, as the Sannin was prone to doing when left to her own devices. "Who, Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun?" she inferred.

"Yes, and that old fart," Tsunade added, retrieving a bottle of vintage sake from her draw and ignoring Shizune's disapproving look. "All the paperwork he reneged on doing is coming back to bite _me _in _my_ ass. Ugh!" she bristled as she took a chug of rice wine. "I am going to _kill _that blonde little bastard," Tsunade claimed, almost slamming the bottle of alcohol on her desk and resumed with stamping and filing the paperwork on her desk.

"Perhaps you should delegate your tasks more, Tsunade-sama," Shizune suggested meekly. "With all the time you in put in the office, you can't possibly expect to manage your program at the hospital. Why don't you let me do that in your stead?"

"Maybe... sure, why not?" Tsunade agreed eventually. "You'll have to draft the students on your own, though, Shizune. I haven't even had time yet to even look at possible candidates." Tsunade gestured to a thick, green folder on a stand nearby, stamped 'GENIN'.

Shizune nodded, reaching for the stack of files Tsunade just finished reviewing and placing them on a separate pile. "And perhaps you could enlist the guards downstairs to help you with filing these files," she continued to suggest. Shizune knew better than anyone how unpleasant Tsunade could be when she was overworked. It would be both in her master's interest as well as her own to create a smoother working environment.

"What are their names?" Tsunade asked shortly before rewarding herself with another swing of rice wine. "And are they reliable?"

"Their names are Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, I believe," Shizune informed with a thoughtful expression. "They aren't assigned to any division because Sandaime-sama had them run errands for him."

"What kinds of errands?" Tsunade asked, stamping another thick dossier with her own customised Godaime stamp. It had the kanji for 'five' just above 'S. Tsunade', both written in her own handwriting. It was one of the first things she was tasked with doing once she was debriefed by her old sensei's advisors.

"Oh, you know, returning and sending documents, fetching him lunch and... the latest issue of Icha Icha Paradise whenever it came out," Shizune added the last bit in a quiet tone.

Tsunade still heard it though; her expression soured with disgust almost instantly. "That old pervert... I knew Jiraiya had to get it from somewhere," she shook her head, her pigtails jumbling erratically, "And to think I blamed Orochimaru."

"You blamed Orochimaru for Jiraiya-sama's perversion?" Shizune asked half laughing. The notion was absurd and not in the least amusing.

The Godaime shrugged, opening her mouth to retort _just as a massive explosion went through the village, rumbling and shaking the Hokage Tower._

_BOOM!_

"What the hell was that?" Tsunade demanded, already hearing shouting and calls resounding through the Hokage Tower's corridors and the marching footsteps of her shinobi running out to see what was going on.

Shizune rushed to the window and gasped. "There's smoke coming from the stadium, Tsunade-sama!"

"Tenzō!" Tsunade barked. Out of nowhere, seemingly from the shadows in the corner next to Shizune, Tenzō appeared in full ANBU garb.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade clenched her fist; she wanted to go investigate the sight on her own, but she was the Godaime now. She couldn't simply rush out whenever she pleased. "Go checkout the sight of the explosion. Do not interfere unless necessary. I want you back with a detailed report as soon as practical."

Tenzō nodded and phased through the ground once again.

"Tsunade-sama, who was that?" Shizune asked slightly alarmed, having never seen or even felt the ANBU's presence.

Tsunade didn't hear her assistant, gazing out of her window with a frown. "The stadium is where the inauguration ceremony is going to be held... _Great._"

-ooo-

(Konoha Stadium)

Naruto gritted his teeth, eyes wide open, red and slit as blood streamed down his face. He heard the soft cries of Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi, relieved that they were, for the most part anyway, unharmed. They were trapped under a mountain of debris. It was pitch dark and he couldn't see them, but he could tell they were close to him. With greater luck than he had imagined possible, he had managed to surge forward at the last second and stopped the massive chunk of concrete from squashing them with his own body.

His body shook uncontrollably, especially his arms as he tried to keep the massive piece of fallen ceiling from sinking him into the ground under its sheer, knee-buckling weight.

"N- Naruto-niichan?" Moegi whimpered, feeling drips of moisture fall on her arm. "Are you OK?"

"I'm just fine," Naruto lied, not wanting to alarm her by telling him he was dripping blood like a leaky faucet. They audibly jumped at the sound of his voice, now deeper and more gruff and raspy sounding under the Kyūbi's influences on his body. "Konohamaru, Udon, can you hear me?"

"Ye- Yeah," Konohamaru stammered. followed by Udon's quivering voice: "Yes, Na- Naruto-niisan."

The jinchūriki let out a sigh of relief. "Don't you guys worry, you're safe with me," he assured them. "I need you two to move closer to Moegi," Naruto instructed, and they did as they were told. "Alright, now stay calm."

Naruto closed his eyes, focusing on calling on as much of the Kyūbi's chakra as he could while his wounds were still healing. 'Come on, Naruto, focus, you can do this,' Naruto thought as he slowly and carefully moved the massive concrete and the smaller of pieces on top of it awkwardly on his back (that was going to kill in the morning).

_DUNK!_

Smaller pieces of stone fell down and judging from his yelp, a particularly large one hit Konohamaru on the head. "Sorry about that," Naruto said as he fell to his backside. He looked up and noticed that rays of light found their way through the cracks in the pile up. "I'm going to try and get you guys out of here through the ground," Naruto breathed heavily as he spoke, his body positively aching with agony. "So hold on close."

"OK, Naruto-niichan," Konohamaru nodded, now visible under the dim rays of light.

"Moegi, Udon, are you ready?" Naruto asked the two other members of the Konohamaru Corps. They nodded in response. "OK, move a little closer. I'm going to need room for at least two clones."

Once they moved, Naruto made his unconventional hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two Shadow Clones appeared in the small enclave and latched on to Konohamaru and Moegi whilst the original grabbed Udon. Naruto swallowed thickly, he hadn't made much use of this technique up until now, nor had he ever tried it with another person, but he didn't have much of a choice. Who knew how much longer they would be stuck under the debris? For all he knew, the pileup was about to collapse on top of them any moment now... "OK, on three, take a deep breath and close your eyes. One... two... three! Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu!"

Slowly at first and gradually faster as Naruto softened the earth with his chakra, they sunk through the ground as though intangible. Naruto almost panicked once they sank, thinking he should've sent one of his clones first, but just as quickly snapped out of it, forcing himself to be strong and move through the earth towards the thumping source of vibration, most likely from the footsteps of other shinobi on the bombsite. It was their best bet...

Moments later they emerged from the ground, shooting upwards and with chakra-enhanced jumps, gulping for air.

"Over here, we've got some survivors!" someone called out. There were shouts of acknowledgement as others ran over to them, some of them calling out Konohamaru's name as they recognised him to be Sandaime's grandson.

"Ebisu-san, over here!"

Naruto's clones dispelled as he wiped the mud out of his eyes; he had used so much chakra to soften the earth, it had become like a liquid substance. "Are you three OK?" Naruto wheezed, looking to the Konohamaru Corps.

They hiccoughed barely coherent responses. "Good," Naruto looked to one of the shinobi around them, recognising him to be Ebisu, Konohamaru's tutor. "Ebisu-san, Konohamaru and his friends need to be escorted home."

Ebisu already had his arms around the three, examining them for injuries as the other shinobi ran past them towards other survivors. "Of course, but what are you going to do?" the tokubetsu jōnin asked in response, somewhat put-off by the jinchūriki's relaxed demeanour.

"I saw the guy who did it," Naruto replied as he got to his feet and made another hand seal for his signature jutsu. "He can't have gotten very far, and if he did, there's no harm in trying. Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

In an instant, with masses of pillars of smoke, hundreds upon hundreds of Naruto-clones appeared and took off in separate directions, tasked with finding the cloaked culprit, voicing their intentions as they audibly promised to tear him a new one.

"Remarkable!" Ebisu exclaimed at the sight of a good 400 pissed-off Naruto-clones taking off. A few other shinobi nearby were still picking up their jaws when Naruto looked at Ebisu impatiently. Despite his seemingly calm demeanour, the very fact someone had nearly killed him along with the Konohamaru Corps had sparked a rage inside of him he felt would explode if he didn't do something about it. Ebisu seemed to pick up on his ire and took the Konohamaru Corps along with him, who, surprisingly so, made no protest as they were probably still holding back tears from their fright and had yet to catch their breath from travelling underground, unlike Naruto, who had practiced the Doton jutsu on his own enough times to be more or less accustomed to the breathlessness.

"Uzumaki!"

"Naruto!"

Said jinchūriki looked to the distance and found his senior teammates from Team 312, Sarugaku and Hayase, approaching him. "Oh, right, you guys were scheduled to come back from your mission today," Naruto remembered out loud.

"Uzumaki, what happened here?" Sarugaku demanded with a panning look around the now ceiling-less stadium; the entire building was more or less destroyed. A few small fires raged here and there, but nothing a Suiton jutsu couldn't handle. Hayase whistled at the sight of the damage.

"_Taichō,_" he greeted Sarugaku with barely veiled disdain, "What the _fuck_ do you _think_ happened? Somebody set off explosions here. I saw the guy who did it and when I get my hands on him, I'm going to rip him apart limb from limb."

Sarugaku looked around again, as though expecting to find the culprit peaking around a corner. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Because I had to look after my students," Naruto replied firmly, sitting on the ground to catch his breath. He hadn't taught them anything yet, but that didn't change the fact their relationship had changed from surrogate brother and younger siblings to teacher and students. Besides, that sounded a lot cooler.

Unable to argue with that, Sarugaku looked to Hayase. "We should go to the Hokage Tower and report to the council."

"That won't be necessary," Naruto fell in. "We have a new Hokage."

Sarugaku and Hayase looked at him with suspicion. "And who would that be, Uzumaki? Where the hell were you these past few weeks anyway?" the older shinobi scowled at him.

"Fetching Konoha's Godaime, Tsunade of the Sannin," Naruto held his gaze evenly; it irked his team leader a lot more when he acted like this: calm and all knowing, especially when he himself wasn't. "But don't take my word for it," Naruto said easily with a shrug. "I mean, _why start now,_ right?"

Sarugaku opened his mouth to retort, but finding none, he grunted with annoyance instead. "Fine. I believe you."

"And that means the world to me," Naruto replied sarcastically.

His TL ignored this and looked to Hayase. "Go and find Nakamaru and Nara and meet me at the Hokage Tower in twenty minutes," he instructed. "Uzumaki, you say you caught a glimpse of the culprit?" Naruto nodded slowly with suspicion. "Then let's inform the Hokage. Meet us there once you've changed."

"Alright," Naruto agreed, picking himself up from the ground and taking off towards his apartment by the use of a Shunshin as Sarugaku went over to a few other nearby shinobi to help them out.

-ooo-

(Naruto's Apartment)

Upon entering his apartment nearly five minutes later, Naruto heard a ticking noise by the window, where he found a pure white and noticeably irate messenger hawk on his windowsill. 'Must be old man Gikan's bird,' Naruto thought as he opened up the window sill and screeched at him impatiently. It had been waiting for him for quite some time now.

"Yep, definitely the old man's bird," Naruto commented dryly as he relinquished the bird from its carrier pouch and withdrew a red scroll from it. Naruto moved to his kitchen table and held up a single hand seal: "Kai."

_Poof!_

Once the smoke cleared, his blade appeared on his kitchen table, sheathed in a pure white sword sheath with light blue, wavy decal. 'Who would have thought the old man had an artistic side to him?' Naruto briefly entertained the thought of Gikan painting beautiful murals in free time. It made him chuckle a little as he inspected the blade, which came with a matching belt.

He noticed a note attached to the bandage-covered guard of his sword and read it.

_Uzumaki,_

_The sword sheath ought to be a perfect fit. Shiho did the decal – that was not me. _

_Understood? Good. _

_You owe me 230 ryō for the belt. I'm not running a charity, you know? _

_Gikan_

Naruto crumpled the letter and threw it into his bin, noting how the last sentence had been crossed out, probably by Shiho. "Thanks for the good work, old man," he said out loud as he placed the sword back on the table and went to take a shower.

...

A good fifteen minutes later he emerged from the shower, content with having gotten the dirt and blood out of his hair. He threw his clothes in the bin; they were ruined now. He then got dressed in his skin tight bodysuit and usual shinobi attire with his modified regulation flak.

Figuring the kodachi would be best placed on his back, straight down his spine, Naruto strapped his tantō's leather sheath to his left thigh, shortly after putting on his utility belt, to which he attached several default pouches that covered the entirety of the small of his back. 'That looks about right,' Naruto noted, taking in his reflection in the mirror as he pulled on his metal-plated, fingerless gloves and then pulling his bracer over his left forearm. He ran a hand over his smooth surface, feeling a fresh wave of affection for the mad scientist that had given it to him.

Naruto made a mental note to speak to Jiraiya about his hair altering jutsu, it would save him time getting his cut.

-ooo-

(Outside the Hokage Tower)

"You're later," Sarugaku stated with a pointed glare and arms crossed over his chest as Naruto arrived a good fifteen minutes later than he had stipulated.

"Or maybe you're just early," Naruto replied flippantly. "I was covered in mud and blood, OK?" he added when his TL gave him an annoyed look, one he responded to with a blank expression. Noticing Shikamaru crouched lazily nearby, the blond grinned at the shadow-user. "How was your mission, Shika?"

Shikamaru shrugged, stifling a yawn. He looked like had just been waken up from a nap; probably so considering he had just come home from a mission. "We arrested two Akatsuki accountants. A duo of brothers, Ginji and Kyōya, settled in Otafaku Gai. I don't know what happened to them after we caught 'em though; all I did was provide strategy and use my Kagemane to capture them." Shikamaru shrugged indifferently, none to bothered with being kicked out the loop. "What about you? My old man mentioned you retrieved Tsunade-sama-"

"Catch up on your own time," Sarugaku barked with annoyance, turning inside the tower.

Hayase squinted his eyes at Naruto, or more specifically, the guard of his sword. "Is that a new sword?"

"Yeah, I picked it up on my mission with Ero-sennin," Naruto informed. "That reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you for some pointers in kenjutsu."

"Sure, no problem," Hayase agreed easily with a smile of his own. "I'm no expert, but it'll do us both some good to have a training partner."

"Yeah!" Naruto said excited at the prospect of duelling with the swordsman of their team.

Rei looked to Naruto, walking between him and Shikamaru. "What happened?" she asked him, to which Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what did happen?" the shadow-user inquired lazily. "I was looking forward to having the day off..."

"Someone set off an explosion at the stadium where the inauguration is being held. I managed to get a look at the guy, so Sarugaku had us come here to tell the old lady. Sorry 'bout your day off, Shika. I'll make it up to you guys," Naruto guaranteed.

"How?" the lone kunoichi on Team 312 asked.

Naruto shrugged as they began to climb the stairs to the Hokage's office. "Well, I was planning on inviting you guys to a meal anyway, since my birthday's coming up and all, and I haven't seen any of my friends from the academy in long time now," Naruto offered. "I was thinking of going to a real nice place."

"I'm in," Shikamaru smiled.

Naruto looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Of course you would, you never turn down a free meal, you cheap bastard," Naruto replied. "By the way, I invited Shiho-chan and I told her you'd be there, so yeah, go with me on this one."

"Naruto... what did you tell her?" Shikamaru demanded with an annoyed sigh.

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. "Oh, you know, nothing of importance _really. _Just that you kind of liked her – that's not lying, you don't exactly dislike her, do you?" he said as Shikamaru opened his mouth for an angry retort. "Ha!" Naruto exclaimed as Shikamaru shook his head and walked ahead.

"You shouldn't have done that," Rei commented. "Whoever this Shiho person is, you shouldn't have lied to her."

"It'll be fine," Naruto waved it off. "Shiho-chan refused to come unless Shikamaru would be there," Naruto told her. "It'll be fine! If Shikamaru really had a problem with it, he would've let me know, wouldn't you think?"

Rei shrugged. "There's no arguing with that logic."

The others came to a stop in front of the doors. Sarugaku swallowed thickly; they weren't summoned by the Hokage, so they had no real reason to be going to her office. Naruto grinned, brushing past him and opening the door, cheerfully greeting the Godaime. "Tsunade-baachan - Ouf!"

_ZOOM!_

A book came soaring through the air and struck Naruto dead-centre in the face with enough force to lift him off his feet and launch him against the wall behind him. "Gaki!" Tsunade barked angrily. "You did this to me!" she accused loudly, smacking the pile of papers on her desk. "On your knees and apologise!"

Naruto held his face, a tiny tear at the edge of his eye biting back the pain. "APOLOGISE?" he demanded with a high-pitched voice. "_What is wrong with you?_ I didn't _force _you to take the job – gah!" he lightly pinched his stinging nose, his voice sounding thicker. "That was uncalled for!"

"Shut up! I apologise for nothing!" Tsunade declared shamelessly, moving back to her seat. "Well, what do you want?"

Sarugaku looked from Tsunade to Naruto with wide eyes, his jaw dropped, but no sound came from his mouth; Hayase swallowed thickly with squinted eyes, clearly terrified; Rei's eyes were widened and blinked a few times; even Shikamaru looked visibly unnerved, rubbing the back of his head.

"What do I want?" Naruto repeated, picking himself up, "Right now, I want kick your wrinkled ass from here back to Tanzaku Gai – _Tsunade-sama, no!_" he screamed the last bit in terror with a high-pitched girly voice as Tsunade threw her bottle of sake at him, narrowly missing his head.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Tsunade demanded, reaching for another bottle of sake.

Naruto swallowed thickly. 'Fuck me, she must be pissed at me for sticking her with this job,' Naruto thought with a sweat-drop, 'What the hell must she be going through to be _this _angry? She really needs to blow off some steam.'

"Well?" Tsunade barked at Sarugaku.

Sarugaku jumped involuntary at her glare; he gave one his patented coughs like he always did before speaking up, something Tsunade clearly did not appreciate (much like Naruto). "Uh, Hokage-sama," he stammered uncertainly, "We are here in regards to the incident at the stadium-"

"Which reminds me!" Tsunade growled at Naruto. "Why were you there? You could've gotten yourself killed, you idiot!" Naruto flinched involuntarily at the scolding. "The next time I see the Sandaime's grandson, I'm going to beat a few lessons into his pea-sized brain."

"I'll light a few candles and pour some liquor in memory of him," Naruto commented quietly.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed at him. "What was that, smartass?"

Naruto didn't reply, opting to instead whistle inconspicuously and pretending to be admiring the portrait of the Yondaime Hokage. "You were saying?" Tsunade looked back to the Sarugaku somewhat calmed down. "The incident at the stadium is already under investigation. Do you have some relevant information?"

"Ah, yes, Hokage-sama," Sarugaku nodded, "Uzumaki here claims he caught a glimpse of the culprit shortly before the bombing. I believe we could, ah, be of some assistance in finding the person behind the bombings."

Tsunade sat back in her chair and eyed Naruto intently for a long a moment. "I've had a dozen or so complaints about your clones terrifying the villagers and unnerving the shinobi, Naruto. I assume you haven't found anything by now?" He shook his head. "Then get rid of them," she ordered.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes and focused on dispelling the clones, feeling some discomfort as the information came streaming back to him. "Uh, no, but hey, there's 15% discount at the new dango shop down by – I'm kidding," Naruto finished with a dry tone, catching Tsunade's look, weary of what she might do to him. "Look, I didn't see much of the guy, but I know for a fact he was male, around 5'6-"

"You must be jealous," Tsunade commented.

"-and he wore a brown cloak and a facemask," Naruto finished, biting back a flippant remark he had been saving for a special occasion. He wanted to actually be a part of this mission, and that was going to be tough if he was in the hospital, where he would undoubtedly end up if he pissed off Tsunade today by the looks of it.

The Godaime rose out of her chair and looked to Naruto. "Alright, then, it won't hurt to have a few more eyes and ears out there," she said. "I'm issuing you with a B-ranked mission, Naruto. Assemble a taskforce consisting of no more than three teams and search the village for the person matching the description you gave me. While you investigate in the open, I'll have the right people investigate from the shadows. It might throw off the culprit's game."

"Excuse me," Sarugaku fell in with a doubtful glance at Naruto, "I mean no disrespect, Hokage-sama-"

"Good," Tsunade replied testily.

"-but I am the team leader of this team," Sarugaku finished, swallowing thickly. "I believe I should take charge on this mission."

Naruto glared at Sarugaku but kept his mouth shut. As much as he disliked the guy, he didn't know the first thing about being a team leader. If anyone was supposed to lead them, it would have to be Sarugaku or Shikamaru. Surely they were more qualified-

"Right, this isn't a team mission," Tsunade clarified calmly. "This is a _taskforce, _one I have assigned Uzumaki Naruto to lead. Is that going to be a problem?" Tsunade grabbed a dossier from an archive next to her desk and plopped it on her desk, where she sat down and leaned back into her chair. "Naruto?"

Naruto snapped out of his daze, looking from his teammates to Tsunade. "I'm not sure if I – I mean, they're more-"

"It wasn't a request, Uzumaki." From the way she used his lastname, he could immediately tell she was being serious, so he decided it was best to just do as he was told. He neared her desk and nodded at her. "OK, I'll do it," Naruto smiled with insincere bravado, "It'll be good practice for the day I kick your ass out of this office."

"Oh, you'll have to drag me out kicking and screaming, brat," Tsunade shot back challengingly, though her expression remained steady and serious. "If you want this office and my hat, you'll have to beat me for it."

They looked at each other in silence for a moment of pointed silence that mystified the other members of Team 312. "What's this dossier for?" Naruto asked a eventually breaking the silence, picking up the thick folder and opening it up. "I see," he said when he opened it: it was filled with files on Konoha's genin. Skimming through the pages he recognised some from the academy, noting that some of the genin he had known in the academy had their files stamped with 'KIA'. He wasn't too sure how to process that information, so he decided to push it to the back of his head. Now wasn't the time to be pensive. "What are your orders... _Godaime-sama?_"

"As head of this taskforce, the responsibility to assemble the teams is all yours to decide," Tsunade stated with a calculative gaze at the respectful way he addressed her. "It falls on you to decide on who you will pick to be a part of this task force, and how you will balance the teams based on each individual's skill set."

To her surprise, Naruto placed the dossier back on her desk without hesitation. "I think have a pretty good idea on who I want for this taskforce, Tsunade- _Godaime-sama,_" he struggled more with keeping up the respectful way he addressed her than he was proud of, but then again, he was never one for formality and by the look of her bemused expression, she appreciated the effort anyway.

"So soon?" Tsunade asked, to which he nodded.

"I would like to enlist the genin Teams 7, 8, 10 and Team Gai to be part of this taskforce," Naruto replied. "I've seen each of them in action at least once, and I'm familiar with them enough to work in a team."

Tsunade held his gaze and nodded. "I see, well get going then. You may send out summons to them by messenger hawks on my authority," Tsunade grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled something on it and them stamped it with her Godaime seal and then gave it to Naruto. "Now then, dismissed."

Sarugaku looked livid and promptly stormed out of the office, followed by Hayase, Rei and Shikamaru, who conversed quietly amongst themselves as Naruto stayed behind, straggling uncertainly as he looked at the Godaime. "What is it?" Tsunade asked.

"Do you really think I'm ready to lead a taskforce?" Naruto voiced his uncertainty now that they were alone. "I mean, I haven't even led a team yet, so how am I going to lead _three_ on my first time being a leader?" He hated how weak he sounded, but it couldn't be helped. He wasn't a leading figure; he never had been up until now. It made him painfully aware of what was awaiting him the day became Hokage – which he now started to question whether that was what he really wanted. **(2)**

Tsunade picked up on his concerns; her expression softened. "You'll do fine," she assured him confidently. "I'm not exactly much of a leading figure myself, in case you haven't noticed," he smiled at that, "I've never been much of a leader. I was a good teacher, but never one that actively sought out to lead, I usually left that to others around me," she revealed. "But if I can do it, then why the hell shouldn't you be able to do it too? You're the one that convinced me to take this job, Uzumaki, and I'm not stepping down till you come and take my seat, so whatever is holding you back from becoming a leader, get over it. You can do this."

Naruto beamed at her. "Thank you, Tsunade-baachan," he said with genuine humility. "I won't let you down, I promise."

"I know you won't, now get out of my office!" Tsunade barked at him. "This whole touchy-feeling nonsense makes me want to hurl."

Naruto laughed as he nodded and turned to exit the office. He stopped by the door, and turning around the face her, he remembered a promise he made. "I need to ask you a favour," Naruto said with an unreadable expression.

"A favour?" the Godaime repeated with a raise eyebrow.

"Yeah, but not for my sake," Naruto was quick to point out from across the room. "I need you to look into a friend of mine by the name of Rock Lee..."

Tsunade recognised the name, having gone through a few files earlier that day. "What about him?" she asked, curious for his answer.

"He got hurt pretty badly during the Chūnin Exams a while back," Naruto began, "His injuries were so bad, he had to quit being a shinobi because none of the doctors were able to heal him. I was hoping you'd take a look at him."

She looked at him in a silence for a long moment, measuring how determined he was to help his friend and how much it meant to him. "You're not going to let this go are you?" He shook his head with a shameless grin, prompting her to sigh in defeat. "I can't promise anything, you know that, right?"

Naruto nodded with a grave expression. "I know you can't, but if anyone can help him, it's got to be you, Tsunade-baachan," he said he turned around fully and gave the deepest bow he had ever done. Tsunade scowled at his formality. "Don't be so formal around me. It doesn't suit you even if you can be a little more respectful."

He grinned at her and left the office. "I owe you one!"

The door closed with a soft click, leaving Tsunade to her own devices. "That kid is going to be the end of me some day, Jiraiya," she said to her fellow Sannin, who she had sensed moment before. He was perched by her window and smiled at her knowingly. "What?"

"I gotta hand it to the kid, he has a way with you," Jiraiya stated, much to her annoyance. "If it were anyone else, you would have flat out refused and told them to see Shizune about it." The sage was right, but they both knew she's be damned if she admitted to it.

Tsunade pulled her desk draw and her retrieved two saucers and poured one of herself and one for Jiraiya. "It can't be helped; he's just like Nawaki in that sense. Aside from not letting him fight on the frontlines, I don't think I've ever refused him anything."

"You look tense," Jiraiya observed with a gulp of his cup, emptying the liquor into his mouth in one. "Why don't you and I go blow off some steam?"

Tsunade a single eyebrow. "I'm listening."

-ooo-

(Forty-five Minutes Later: Briefing Room 12)

Naruto stood behind the lectern as Team 8, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Chōji, Neji and Tenten walked through the door. All of them had been summoned by messenger hawks sent out on the authority of Tsunade, who allowed Naruto to make use of the vacant briefing room.

"What's going on?" Ino asked Sakura as they saw Team 312 seated already whilst Naruto stood by the lectern, writing on a sheet of paper. Sakura shrugged, looking distracted as she eyed Naruto, who seemed to be engrossed in what he was doing. "Shikamaru?" Yamanaka looked at the shadow-user sitting in the front next to three other shinobi she didn't know.

"Yo," Shikamaru greeted, utterly relaxed as always and, judging by the small smile on his face, amused with the situation. "Chōji, Ino," the shadow-user motioned to the two seats next to him while stifling a yawn.

Team 8 looked at one another, voice their confusion amongst themselves. "Why is Naruto standing behind the lectern like some big man?" Kiba challenged, to which Akamaru yelped. The ninken had yet to forgive the blonde for tricking Kiba into knocking it out during their bout seemingly a century ago.

"It appears he is in charge, Kiba," Shino deducted easily, hands stuffed in his pockets and his face obscured by his shades and hood.

Naruto looked up from his lectern as the others sat down. His eyes held Sasuke's gaze as his former teammates sat in the front whilst the other members of the Konoha 12, save Neji, Tenten and Shikamaru murmured and discussed what was going on. "Thank you guys for coming," Naruto cleared his throat like he had seen his platoon leader do when calling for attention, taking his eyes off Sasuke.

"_I can't believe this,_" Sarugaku complained to Hayase in an undoubtedly purposely audible whisper. Fortunately, much to Naruto's pleasure, Hayase ignored him.

Ino spoke up with her usual loud, demanding tone. "Naruto, what's going on? Why are you standing behind that lectern?" she asked as though the notion of him taking charge was too foolish to even consider. As much as it annoyed Naruto, if he looked at it rationally, he couldn't blame her. He wasn't exactly the type to give orders; he was better at receiving them _and disregarding them_ (something he was becoming increasingly less proud of).

"It is not clear, Yamanaka? Hokage-sama has put him in charge of the mission we have been called to participate in," Neji clarified, a hint of annoyance in his otherwise completely stoic voice. Naruto was grateful for the Hyūga's lack of scepticism; having won his respect in their bout during the Chūnin Exams finals seemed to have a positive effect.

"I'll get to that in a minute," Naruto stated, waiting for Kiba and Akamaru to settle down. "Alright, so this taskforce has been put together to investigate the bombing of the stadium where the Chūnin Exams was held a few months ago and where the inauguration ceremony is scheduled to be held in two days from now."

"Why are we investigating it?" was Chōji's question.

Naruto was mildly irritated with the interruption, but didn't express it in words. "I was getting to that... I happened to be there when it happened and I'm the only one who got a decent look at the culprit," Naruto revealed. "We're looking for him in the open while the Hokage has her own guys investigating the matter from the shadows, as she put it, in the hopes of throwing the culprit off his game."

"That sounds sensible," Shino commented.

'I know it does, just shut the fuck up already.' Naruto kept his thoughts to himself. "This taskforce will be divided in three teams, lead by myself, Shikamaru and Sarugaku. I've tried to keep the teams as balanced as possible whilst keeping those who are comfortable working together on the same team." Naruto looked to his list and cleared his throat again as he read: "Team 1 will consist out of myself, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Nakamura Rei and Aburame Shino. Team 2: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chōji, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyūga Hinata. Team 3, Sarugaku Tsuzumi, Hayase, Hyūga Neji and Tenten." Naruto put down the sheet and looked to the others. "Team one will be looking in the gated forestry since it's likely the culprit is on the run and hiding. Team two will be patrolling the abandoned apartment complexes on the outskirts. Team three will be stationed at the main gate, which is the only gate open at this time, in case the culprit tries to slip out under the guise of a merchant or something. Any questions?"

"Yeah, why are you in charge?" Kiba challenged.

Naruto's eye twitched, he really wasn't one for patience most of the time, and he _was _trying. "You suck, that's why, dog breath," he shot back. Kiba made a move to stand up; it took some considerable self-restraint from Naruto to not to walk over and beat the crap out of the ninken-user. "Don't pull your alpha male crap on me, Kiba," Naruto warned coldly. "I already beat the shit out of you once and I'll do it again if you push it. If you don't want to be a part of this taskforce, then there's fucking door." He gestured to the door for emphasis.

The tense silence that followed was thankfully broken by Sarugaku, who cleared his throat and stood out of his chair. "I believe we are done here," he stated smoothly. "Team leaders will brief you on the formations and the joint radio frequency-"

"That's the plan, Sarugaku," Naruto fell in, annoyed with himself for forgetting that part (even if it was his first time leading) and with Sarugaku for already trying to usurp authority. One of these days he was going to put the boot to that guy and himself in trouble, he just knew it. "Alright, Team 1, with me."

Naruto handed out a sheet of paper to Sarugaku and Nara as they left the briefing room; Kiba brushed past Naruto with his shoulder, prompting Naruto to vow to kick the shit out of him the next time he got a chance. "He's still angry about losing to you, he will come around eventually, Uzumaki-san," Shino assured as the other members of Team Naruto assembled around him.

Naruto nodded to the bug-user. "I know he will, I probably will have to kick his ass though," he said with a shrug.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, immediately locking eyes with him. "You look stronger."

"Don't I? Don't I?" Naruto quipped with mock arrogance. Sakura smiled at the sight of the rivals half-grinning at one another. "You better keep up, Sasuke, I'm getting stronger and stronger each day. I'm not the same fool you knew back then." Naruto warned him.

"You may have become stronger, but you're still a fool," Sasuke decided.

Naruto rolled his eyes at him, and then turned to Sakura and Shino. "Sakura, Shino, this is Nakamura Rei. We belong to the same department and team," Naruto gestured to Rei, who gave a polite inclination of her head.

Sakura smiled friendlily at Rei. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nakamura-san, my name is Haruno Sakura," Sakura introduced herself, returning the gesture.

"Aburame Shino," the bug-user introduced curtly. "I look forward to working with you, Nakamura-san."

Much to Naruto's surprise, even Sasuke partook in the formalities – more or less. "Uchiha Sasuke," the Uchiha introduced himself as he looked at Rei, sizing her up and noting how her eyes flickered subtly at the mention of his name.

"A pleasure," Rei replied. "Uzumaki spoke highly of you two in particular." That was stretching the truth to the breaking point, but Naruto didn't mind as his former teammates smiled at him, even Sasuke, as slightly odd and uncharacteristic as that was. "Shall we go now?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not yet, we all need to tune in on the same radio frequency," Naruto reminded them, pulling out his radio set and tying it around his neck and fixing the microphone position. They emulated him, pulling out their own radiosets and inputting the frequency Naruto told them.

"OK, now a quick briefing on the formation," Naruto started with a look to Shino. "You will be moving up first with your insects to explore the area ahead of us. After you, it's me and Sasuke, with Sakura and Rei-chan behind us." Naruto feigned ignorance over Rei's mild glare at the suffix. Though he genuinely was oblivious to Sakura's notice of how he dropped the suffix usually reserved for her and the way he addressed Rei. "Any questions?"

They shook their heads. "Good.

-ooo-

(With Team 2)

"Naruto sure has changed, hasn't he?" Ino said as they travelled, jumping rooftop to rooftop in the shadow-user's chosen formation: Chōji and Kiba in the front, Hinata making up the middle and Ino and himself making up the rear. "He seems different."

"Maybe he's changed a little," Hinata suggested timidly. "Being a chūnin comes with more responsibilities. Maybe it's only to be expected...?"

Kiba scowled with a decisive shake of his head. "He's the same stupid blonde bastard as always," the ninken-user sneered, to which Akamaru loyally yelped in agreement. "Acting like he's some tough guy... He got lucky that one time we fought, you know? Really lucky!"

Shikamaru yawned, trying to stay out of the discussion pertaining to his blonde teammate for as long as possible. "Shikamaru," Chōji addressed him, "What do you think? You're on the same team, you must've seen how much he's improved." The Nara's expression fell with annoyance, resentful towards his friend for including him in the discussion he had hoped to avoid altogether.

"Yeah," Ino spoke up, "What's up with Naruto? Has he really changed that much?"

"I guess he's changed," Shikamaru shrugged, he really hated these types of discussions. There was never an end to them since it always came down to personal opinion, meaning that any discussion on the topic at hand was, to him at least, a waste of time and effort. "He's a lot stronger than he used to be," Shikamaru said. "I'm not sure how much you've improved, Kiba, but if you're still around the same level as you were the last time you fought, then don't bother trying. He'll win."

Ino looked genuinely surprised at Shikamaru's statement. "Really, he's improved that much?" she asked incredulously. The Yamanaka shook her head, not quite convinced. "Hmm, well so have we. Especially Sasuke-kun," Ino added with sigh filled with fondness for the Uchiha. "I saw him training the other day, and he's gotten really strong."

"Probably," Shikamaru shrugged indifferently, "I can go only by what I've seen Naruto do, and aside from summoning Gamabunta-sama and beating Neji and Gaara, I know for a fact he single-handedly beat a B-ranked ninja on our last team mission."

"No way!" Kiba and Ino exclaimed simultaneously.

"Sasuke-kun beat Gaara... didn't he?" Ino sounded unsure.

Hinata shook her head. "I heard from differently from Kurenai-sensei," she interjected with a stammer. "Apparently Naruto-kun has been training with Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin," she said to the astonishment of Ino and Kiba.

"How the hell did he manage to get training from Jiraiya-sama?" Kiba demanded, outraged with the fact he was no longer in Naruto's league and how painfully aware he was of this. "That's so not fair!"

Ino looked thoughtful for a moment. "It would explain how he managed to beat Neji during the Finals," she said to Kiba. "Remember that red chakra shroud he was using? **(1)** Jiraiya-sama must have taught him that, wouldn't you think?"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he shook his head, muttering, "Idiots," under his breath.

Kiba picked up on it easily with his sensitive hearing. "Who are you calling idiots, Nara?" the Inuzuka demanded with a ferocious snarl.

"Back off, Kiba," Chōji warned with mild, though still rarely seen, aggression.

"What, so you and Naruto are best friends now, Shika, is that it?" Ino demanded. "What's your problem anyway, we were just talking. How does that make us idiots?"

"It doesn't. What makes you idiots is the fact you care so much for who is the strongest, you forget that, at the end of the day, we're all Konoha-nin. Why make such a big deal out of Naruto and Sasuke? They're our comrades. Their strength is our strength, and our strength is theirs," Shikamaru reminded them. "Pointlessly arguing who is stronger doesn't do any good. It just pisses off a lot of people unnecessarily."

Fortunately, that seemed to to stop the arguments.

-ooo-

(With Team 1 - Konoha Forestry)

With Shino up ahead, Sasuke by his side and the two kunoichi of his team making up the rear, Naruto was confident they wouldn't miss anything. He was nervous, he had to admit. A part of him resented Tsunade for pushing this on him, but at the same time he felt grateful for the chance to be a leader for a change instead of a follower or an individual. This would be just like he said it would: good practice for when he became Hokage one day. He was bound to be a leading man at some point, if he ever wanted to become a Kage. Not to say he would have to necessarily become like Sarugaku though, pretentious and a micro-managing hard ass. Instead, he would have to find his own grove in which he felt comfortable being the same guy he always was, while at the same time using his head more like Shikamaru, being (somewhat at least) by the book like Sarugaku, open-minded like Hayase and level-headed as Rei. **(2) **

It was odd how that hadn't struck him until now how different his team was, and how much they symbolised aspects of the shinobi he wanted to become some day. Was it mere coincidence, or maybe he was just imaging things? For a moment he even considered to be fate, though he quickly dropped that train of thought.

"My kikaichū have returned," Shino announced as several swarms of insects resembling dark clouds returned to his body. "This part of the forest is clear, Uzumaki-san," he reported dutifully. Naruto nodded to the bug-user and tapped his radio set tied to his neck, speaking into the microphone. "This is Team 1 to Teams 2 and 3," he called over the frequency. "What do you got for me?"

_"This is Team 2," _came Shikamaru's lazy response. _"All is clear on our end."_

_"Great plan, Naruto!" _Kiba snidely remarked over the radio. Naruto frowned, "Shut the fuck up Kiba," he responded gruffly with half a mind to send a clone to go and kick Kiba's ass. "Team 3?"

Sarugaku took his time to respond with an annoyed grunt, as though it was beneath him to report to the blonde. _"Team 3 here,"_ was his response as he reported in. _"The main gate is clear. Hardly anyone is entering or exiting the village at this time. Hyūga-san has so far detected no suspicion movement with his Byakugan either."_

_"That is correct,"_ Neji confirmed.

Naruto inclined his head to no one in particular. "Alright, Teams 2 and 3, keep me posted," he said shortly before tuning out. 'This is starting to look more and more like a wild goose chase,' Naruto thought with frustration. 'For all we know, he isn't even done yet. He might still be in Konoha, hiding in plain sight like a villager or something. It's not like he would be recognised, he was wearing a cloak after all.'

"What are you thinking?"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his former teammate. "This would be a lot easier if we had something more to go on other than my stupid description."

"Perhaps we're looking in the wrong place," Sasuke offered. "Maybe he's not on the run, but planning his next move."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too, but where would we look for him?"

At the end of the formation, Sakura and Rei made small talk to pass the time whilst they scanned the area with their eyes. Sakura couldn't help but feel there was something going between her former teammate and Rei considering they seemed awfully friendly with one another. "You and Naruto seem close," Sakura said to Rei as they jumped branch after branch.

"Your name is Haruno Sakura, right?" Rei asked for confirmation, to which the rosette nodded. "Uzumaki has told me a lot about you and Sasuke," she revealed to the genin. "For some reason he always seems to smile when he mentions his old team."

Sakura was touched, a small smile of her own creeping to her face. "You know, Naruto used to be dead last in everything when we were still in academy. We used to make fun of him all the time for not being able to write properly, recite the shinobi codes, or even perform a simple Bunshin... but now, looking at how much he's changed... he's gotten along farther than any of us have, with the exception of Shikamaru." As she said this, Sakura realised how much her respect for Naruto had grown. No longer was he the obnoxious brat that would follow her around, pestering her for dates and picking fights with Sasuke. He had started to change after their mission to Nami no Kuni and he started to progress at an incredible rate ever since. It was depressing in one way how much he had changed since she hadn't gone through much change herself, but it was oddly inspiring somehow. Seeing Naruto accomplish his goals, it made her want to try harder and believe in her own power.

"Do you regret not taking him up on his previous offers?" Rei asked bluntly after seeing the storm of different emotions play out on Sakura's face. She looked ahead to the aforementioned blonde for a moment, he was making some small talk of his own with Sasuke, and look back to the rosette.

Having no room to feign confusion, Sakura knew what her fellow kunoichi was talking about. "No," she said with a shake of her head, "I've been in love with Sasuke-kun for as long as I can remember... that hasn't changed." Though she said it, her expression fell into a sombre one. "Sasuke-kun doesn't seem to feel the same away about me though."

"I am going on a date with Uzumaki," Rei stated out of nowhere.

Sakura's eyes widened as she nearly slipped on a branch. "I- Well, congratulations."

"Will you please tell me something?" Rei asked of her, and Sakura nodded. "You have known him longer than I have, what do you think of him as a person?"

The question definitely seemed to have had a lot of thought behind it, so Sakura was at loss for words for a moment. "Why do you ask? Don't you seem to have a good idea of what kind of person he is if you agreed to go out with him?"

"I asked him out," Rei clarified.

"Oh, well, I..." Sakura struggled to find the right words. Then realising she was trying too hard, she gave a sigh and shook her head at her own stupidity, a small smile on her face when she found her answer. "Naruto's not exactly the type most girls go after, he isn't... you know, the strong silent type like Sasuke-kun. He's more of a person who you, I don't know, you get to know by observing their actions. He's the kind of person that'll say he'll do something and then do it. He also cares a lot for his friends, so he'll do anything to protect them... I think that's how he saved me from Gaara."

"I see..." Rei replied vaguely.

Sakura frowned a little. "Does that answer your question?"

"No," Rei shook her head to her surprise, then she smiled at Sakura, "But it helps."

"What are you two talking about?" Naruto asked, noticing them talking.

"Nothing," they said simultaneously.

-ooo-

(With Team 3)

"Hyūga-san, try again," Sarugaku ordered Neji as they stood on a tall building by the gates.

Neji's eyes flared with the Hyūga sight and panned the area with a long gaze, slowly taking in all the different chakra signatures. "It's all clear," he reported as his Byakugan faded. "We may very well have to go around asking questions."

"Yeah, he's got a point," Hayase agreed.

Sarugaku took one more look on his own and then nodded. "Alright, we should-"

_BOOM!_

-ooo-

(With Team Naruto)

As the explosion went off in the distance, Naruto and his team came to abrupt, crouching stops on branches. "What the hell?" Naruto shouted as he turned to the source of the smoke cloud spiralling upwards. "That's where the Hokage Tower is located!" Naruto punched the tree he was perched in with frustration. "Shino!"

Shino raised his arms. Kikaichū bugs swarmed out of his sleeves, taking high to the skies and heading to the heart of the village. "We were looking in the wrong place," Sasuke gritted his teeth, looking to Naruto. "What now?"

"Team 1 to Teams 2 and 3," Naruto pressed the radio set tied around his neck. "Head for the Hokage Tower immediately, the culprit might still be there! If you see anyone suspicious, I don't care if he's got a Konoha headband, you stop them!"

_"Got it,"_ Shikamaru replied.

Sarugaku's response came a moment later. _"This is Team 3, we are already on the site!"_ he shouted over the radio. _"The top floor of the Hokage Tower is on fire!"_

_"That's the Hokage's office!" _Hayase shouted over the radio.

The device screeched for a moment, drowning out Team 3's voices. They could hear a storm of fire and shouting over the other side. "Team 3, come in!" Naruto shouted over the radio. "Neji, use your Byakugan damn it! Remember, you're looking for a man about 5'6 tall, probably still wearing a dark brown cloak!"

_"Understood!" _the garbled reply came a moment later over the chaotic shouting and screaming and roaring fires that went down at Team 3's location.

Naruto looked to his team and shouted, "Let's go!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

This chapter took me only a few hours to write and edit (but knowing me, there's bound to be a few errors here and there, which I'll pick out at some point). I'm a little worried about the dialogue at some points. No matter how many times I rewrote them, it just didn't want to get any better. I hope y'all can overlook it this one time. And yes, before anyone points it out, Tsunade is a lot fonder of Naruto in this story than in canon (or at least she shows it more), though she's a lot more disposed to violence when it comes to him (I find it funny, sue me). I don't know why that is, I just enjoy writing it that way.

Finally, this arc, as you probably guessed, preludes the return of Itachi, which I'll put a special spin on. It is also an arc of personal growth for Naruto in more ways than one. Not to give away too many spoilers, but leadership isn't the only thing he'll learn about in this arc.

OK, that's all I got, people. Happy holidays!

(Psst! if you're thinking of getting me a present, reviews will do just fine!)

**Notes**

**(1)** Weird how they never addressed that in canon. A shroud of pure chakra isn't exactly a copout move, is it?

**(2) **Not everyone is born a leader, and that includes Naruto, who's been more or less an individual or a follower most of the time. It'll be quite some time before he's in any position to be actually leading an entire village. Him being in charge of a taskforce is really just Tsunade's way of throwing him in the ocean and see if he'll learn how to swim or drowns.

**(3)** There you have it, the true reason why the Naruto was put with Team 312. They all symbolise the characteristics of the shinobi Naruto wants to become: smart like Shikamaru, level-headed like Rei, open-minded as Hayase (and himself) while keeping a healthy respect for the rules like Hayase.

...

**Jutsu Used:**

(Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu – Underground Fish Projection) - C rank, supplementary. This technique is used for sneaking and striking silently, like a fish underwater, and then suddenly appearing to the ground's surface.

...

**Character Stats**

_Team 8_

Inuzuka Kiba | Ninjutsu: 2.5 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 3 | Genjutsu: 1 | Intelligence: 1.5 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 3 **| Total: 24 |**

Hyūga Hinata | Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 3.5 | Bukijutsu: 1 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 2 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 24 |**

Aburame Shino | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 1.5 | Bukijutsu: 3 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 4 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 2 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 3 **| Total: 25 |**


	11. Chapter 11: The Lie Lived

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 24-02-12_

_Updated: 29-07-12_

**_Cage of Eden is bloody awesome. If you haven't read it by now, or even heard of it until this point, then I highly – HIGHLY recommend you get up on it. I've been following the manga for a while a now. It's similar to Highschool of The Dead, but far superior in many ways. If any of you have seen LOST and liked it or at least the beginning of it and so on, then you will absolutely LOVE this manga. _**

**_A thank you goes out to Nagato Uzumaki64 for an awesome editing of Rin to make her look like Rei as described in the story. If you haven't seen it, please head over to my profile page and click on the alternative image for Rei. It's pretty sweet._**

**Props go to goku90504 for the grammar check.**

* * *

><p>CH11: The Lie Lived<p>

* * *

><p>-ooo-<p>

(Hokage Tower)

The fire at Hokage Tower roared wildly as it continued to illuminate the village. The fire that raged on in the Hokage's office continued to spread to lower floors; several dozen shinobi went through a string of hand seals and spat jets of water to douse the flames, focusing on the lower levels of the tower to prevent fire from spreading there whilst the Hokage's office burned to a crisp, long since a lost cause. Steam rose out of the building and obscured much of the tower's enormous frame, with sporadic licks of fire flickered here and there. The political fallout of an attempted assassination of the Hokage before the inauguration would be considerable, Naruto realised this as he and his team arrived at the site, minutes after the blond directed Team 2 to report to the Tower.

"Neji, what do you got for me?" Naruto tapped his radio set, vowing to buy a replacement for it soon. Team 3 had been closest to the firebombing, if anyone had a chance at finding the culprit, it would be them. Naruto fervently hoped Neji's Byakugan would serve him well...

_"Nothing," _Neji reported morosely. _"It appears the culprit was not here to begin with, or he would have surely not escaped my eyes."_

_"Perhaps we should be looking for a detonation device in the building," _Shikamaru suggested over the radio. Naruto could see him and his team on a rooftop on a good hundred yards away. Naruto looked to his team and nodded, "He's right. We'll have to help put out the flames," he clenched his fists, feeling less and less competent with the minute, though it could hardly be said this was his fault. Though it was his mission to find the culprit, Tsunade had her own men out there looking for the man behind the bombings, and then there was the fact that the Hokage Tower's security detail had slipped up, not him. Still, he took it as his own error nonetheless; if he had found the bastard behind the first bombing, this wouldn't have happened.

"How do you suggest we put out the flames?" Sakura inquired, looking from Naruto to the other members of Team 1. "I don't know any water jutsu? Do you?" The question was aimed at all of them.

"No," Sasuke replied predictably, Uchiha didn't generally excel at Suiton jutsu as they specialised in fire jutsu.

"I don't know any either," Rei responded.

Shino gave a shake of his head. "Neither do I."

"I don't know any water jutsu," Sakura said, to which Shino and Rei both nodded.

"Damn it." Naruto's gritted his teeth and looked to Sasuke. He knew what he would have to do. "Turn on your Sharingan and watch my hands," he ordered as he went through a string of hand seals slowly: dragon, tiger and hare.

It took Sasuke only a glance with his Sharingan to copy the technique. "Done," he announced, nearly fully matured Sharingan spinning wildly in his eyes from copying the jutsu. "Let's go."

"You owe me one, Sasuke-teme," Naruto claimed as they took off, scaling nearby buildings to get closer to the tower. Sasuke scowled, though he smiled a little. "You _gave _me this jutsu on your own free will, I don't owe you anything."

"Tche, you cheap bastard!" Naruto shot back as they neared the flames and jumped high into the air with chakra-propelled jumps and went through the string of hand seals simultaneously and ran past the other chūnin and up the Hokage Tower's cylinder frame. "Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu!" they shouted simultaneously a second before they spat enormous body of water into the office as they jumped through the window, dousing the flames with ease as a result of their combined efforts.

Vapour rose of the room, almost completely obscuring their view. "Baachan?" Naruto shouted out as he formed another string of hand seals when Sasuke looked the other way, he wasn't about to give away another jutsu. "Fūton: Reppūshō," Naruto thrust his palm forward directing a controlled blast of wind to get rid of the obscuring steam like a high-powered fan.

"There's no one here," Sasuke stated after quick panning look with his Sharingan.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, realising the Gale Palm technique. "Phew. At least that's – ouch!" Naruto raised his right foot as he heard something crack under his weight.

_Crack._

"What is it?" Sasuke asked alarmed, kunai instantly pulled out and held in reverse-grip in both hands.

Naruto picked pieces of porcelain from his foot, "I stepped on something," he grunted to the raven-haired Uchiha scion. "What the hell is this?" Naruto stooped and found the remains of a Ichiraku's delivery bowl. "Stupid old lady..." With a shake of his head he discarded it, throwing it aside; the puncture wounds in his foot already closing up.

"What the hell went on here?" a loud voice demanded.

Naruto looked to the door to find Tsunade with a livid expression. "He struck again," Naruto gritted his teeth, frustrated with his inability in preventing the attack. "We were out looking for him in possible hiding places, we didn't think he'd actually come back."

"How the hell did he get inside here?" Jiraiya appeared behind Tsunade with an apprehensive look about him. His hair and clothes seemed ruffled up a bit, and come to think of it, Tsunade seemed just as dishevelled.

Naruto looked at the two of them for the longest time. "Tsunade-baachan, I'm really glad you're okay but... where were you when the fire happened?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"I..." Tsunade glanced to Jiraiya, a red tinge on her cheeks, "That's none of your business, brat."

Naruto's jaw dropped as his mind connected the dots between their dishevelled appearances and Tsunade's response and came to the most logical conclusion. "That's disgusting," Naruto said judgementally. "Ugh. _Why didn't you just lie to me?_ Now I have to live with that information..." Naruto looked to Sasuke, who had up until that point remained silent. "Can you use your Sharingan on me and make me forget what I just learned?"

"It doesn't work that way," Sasuke frowned at him.

Tsunade growled at her fellow blond, "Grow up, will you?" she shook her head at his stupidity; ignorant of the fact Jiraiya standing behind her seemed very, _very _pleased with himself. "The old pervert has a point," Tsunade acknowledged, "How the hell did he get in here?"

"Maybe he has an accomplice?" Sasuke offered with an apprehensive look at the Godaime and Sannin, neither of whom he had met up until now. "We have been operating under the assumption the man we are looking for on his own, but what if he isn't? It's possible he isn't alone."

"That wouldn't matter," Naruto told him. "Nobody can get into the Hokage's office without explicit permission. I would know, I've tried to blindside Jiji and steal his hat enough times to know that even the secretary can deliver an ass kicking if necessary... What?" he asked once he noticed their deadpan expression.

"Moving on from that asinine comment," Tsunade drawled, "Though you're right. Whoever got tried to firebomb my office must've have gone through the usual procedure, seeing the guards outside, the ground level receptionist for clearance to my floor and then my own secretary."

Naruto looked around the office, noting Shizune's absence. "Where's Shizune-neechan?" He didn't expect her to be a part of this, obviously, since that would be just downright impossible, but as Tsunade's assistant, Naruto rarely saw her on her own.

"There've been some casualties," Tsunade said gravely. "Two chūnin staffers dead and one tokubetsu jōnin in critical status; there are at least three more wounded that I know of." Watching Naruto's eyes widening, Tsunade scowled at him. "Do you really think that is your fault, Uzumaki? Are you that much of an idiot?"

"If I had caught him this wouldn't have happened!" Naruto glared at her.

"Caught him how, with a lousy description?" Tsunade demanded rhetorically. "This is a _shinobi village_, Naruto. Whoever is behind this would be an idiot for not changing his appearance after the first detonation."

He couldn't argue against that, no matter how much guilt he felt, there wasn't much he could have done in the first place. "Then why did you let me lead a taskforce to find him?" Naruto shouted back at loss for words. "Why did you have us look for him?"

"Because it couldn't hurt to have more people out there, you know that!" Tsunade snorted derisively and shook her head at his self-doubt, his moment of weakness.

Naruto opened his mouth for an angry retort, but was cut off as Sarugaku sounded over the radio. _"Team 1, Team 2, this is Team 3... We got nothing."_

"Great," Naruto spat sarcastically, tapping his headset. "Send Neji or Hinata in here, I need the best set of eyes we got, we might be able to find remains of a detonation device in here."

_"I'll be there in one moment,"_ Neji replied almost instantly. _"Hinata-sama will not enter the building if there remains a chance of danger."_

Naruto looked to the Sannin and Sasuke, minutes creeping by in silence broken only by Neji's arrival. "Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama," Neji gave a respectful bow as he climbed through the massive hole in the office.

"Alright, Neji, you know what do," Naruto nodded.

Neji closed his eyes for a moment and opened them a second later, veins popping up at the side of his face as his Byakugan activated. As he scanned the room, Naruto turned to look to Tsunade again. "Did you lose anything of importance in the room?"

"Ugh," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Don't remind me. If Shizune did as I told her and moved the files like I told her to, then I haven't missed anything copies can't be made of... But to think my office got firebombed, I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"Nah," Jiraiya waved off her concerns, "It's only to be expected someone wants you dead, Hime," he tried to assuage her concerns, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Hiruzen-sensei has had who knows how many attempts on his life?"

"Not helping, Jiraiya..." Tsunade sounded tense.

The sage chuckled nervously at her building ire and moved away from her.

"I found something," Neji announced, moving to the smouldering remains of Tsunade's desk. Naruto and Sasuke moved to over to help him, lighting up the piece of wood and dropping it on its side with the desk draws facing the roof.

"Do it," Naruto nodded to Sasuke, who pulled open the drawer Neji gestured to.

Frowning as he struggled to reach it, Sasuke fished out an intricate contraption of black metal and several wires that somehow had survived the fire. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he recognised it, as did Tsunade, and rushed forward, taking the device from Sasuke and pushing him back with enough force to send him flying into Tsunade's embrace with one hand and hurling it out of the massive gap in the wall with another.

_BOOM!_

"_What the fuck was that?__"_ Naruto shouted, looking to Tsunade just as she let go of an highly unnerved Sasuke. "What the fuck was that?" he repeated with a frantic look to Jiraiya, who had a grave expression on his face as he and Tsunade shared knowing looks.

"Well?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya expectantly.

The sage's hands clenched subconsciously. "Have any of you ever heard of a hidden shinobi village called Kagerōgakure no Sato?" Jiraiya began slowly, to which Naruto, Sasuke and Neji shook their heads. Jiraiya smiled without a hint of actual mirth. "I wouldn't expect you to; it was destroyed a long time ago. Kagerōgakure was a minor shinobi village settled in Yama no Kuni that was destroyed thirty years ago. Like many other minor villages, they grew tired of Konoha usurping all the business and declared war. We had skirmished with them before, more often than not they were easily beaten by Konoha. We had the better jutsu and better trained shinobi after all, and we vastly outnumbered them to boot. There were two things Kagerōgakure did excel at though: demolition and sabotage. They were masters of the craft, capable of constructing devices that, if placed in the right places, could level entire cities in minutes."

"What happened to them?" Naruto asked, feeling as though he already knew the answer to that question.

"Well... when they declared actual war on us, it got sensei worried. Kagerōgakure was a part of an alliance of smaller villages that had several ironclad clauses on paper, one of them being they would unify against any hidden village of the Great Five in case of war. Alone, Kagerōgakure would've been no real threat to Konoha, like I said, but together with several other minor villages? Well, let's just say they would have posed a significant threat. A threat so significant, Hiruzen-sensei decided to launch an all out attack in dead of the night before the other villages could mobilise. Hiruzen-sensei sent the best of the best in one single contingent of ANBU. Some of the greatest shinobi Konoha had ever produced were a part of the mission; Akimichi Torifu, Uchiha Kagami..." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the mentioning of another Uchiha, "Orochimaru and I were part of the ANBU department at the time and we were amongst the best, so naturally we were sent as well." Naruto could tell the blank look in Jiraiya's eyes he remembered it all too well, "We arrived about two in the morning and they were all dead before the sun came up."

"What about the children in the village? Did you...?" And as Jiraiya nodded slowly with a grave expression, Naruto would never look at him the same way again. He wasn't quite sure how to process that information. To him, Jiraiya had always been the paragon of good, and to hear even his sensei, the man he secretly idolised, had committed such atrocities bothered him greatly; much more so than he would allow himself to admit. "Different times, huh?"

"Different times," Jiraiya nodded. "We destroyed Kagerōgakure thoroughly, that much we're sure of. There's a chance some of them got away, there always is. On missions or just plain hiding, some of them were bound to survive, and now they are back for revenge."

"They?" Naruto asked.

"It's best to operate under the assumption there are a few of them," Tsunade answered his question. "For all we know there's more than one of them. What worries me the most is how they got into my office. Who would be bold enough to actually try it?"

"Perhaps the question is who is skilled enough to do it," Neji fell in with a thoughtful expression.

"He's right," Naruto nodded. "How many people have the skills to pull off something like this, Baachan?"

"I'll have Shizune look into that," Tsunade agreed. "In the meantime, I want you to put your investigation on hold, Naruto."

Naruto gave her a confused look. "Why? I thought you said this wasn't my fault..."

"It isn't," Tsunade shook her head, "But the threat level of the culprits, how many of them there may be, has risen to the point I can't afford a bunch of genin and chūnin handle the investigation. No arguing," Tsunade added when Naruto opened his mouth to retort.

"Understood, Hokage-sama..." Naruto sighed as he turned to Neji and Sasuke and nodded, prompting them to leave the office the same way they got in. He didn't like the situation, not one bit, but if there was anything he had learned from Sarugaku it was to always respect the chain of command, even if you didn't agree with it. "Keep me in the loop?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Whatever isn't classified, I'll let you know. Thank you for the good work," she then added as she dismissed him.

"Yeah, don't mention it," Naruto waved half-heartedly, exiting the room via the open wall.

"That was surprising," Jiraiya noted.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I expected him to put up more of a fight."

-ooo-

(With the Taskforce)

"What do you mean we're off the case?" Sarugaku demanded hotly when Naruto finished relaying the news.

Naruto gave an apathetic shrug. "Hey, orders are orders," he replied simply, trying his best not to wear his own disappointment on his sleeve. "The threat level has elevated. If they, how many of them there may be, got past Hokage Tower security, we're not going to catch them like this."

"Nice going!" Sarugaku snapped. Working on a case so close to the Hokage was a rare opportunity, one he considered to be squandered by the bothersome blond that was Uzumaki Naruto. "So what now? What are our orders exactly?"

Naruto eyed the others on the taskforce for a moment; none of them seemed to be actually pleased, but with the exception of Kiba's glare and Sakura's uncertain frown, they seemed to be taking it stride. "Nothing," Naruto replied. "We're off the case completely. Tsunade-baachan promised to catch me up on what's not classified. I'll let you know what I know when I know it."

"You call her that, but you can't even get her to keep us on the case?"

Hayase intervened before Naruto could bite out an angry retort, gripping Sarugaku by the elbow and tugging him along. "Alright, that's enough, Tsuzumi." The change in the way he addressed the older chūnin was a clear sign even Hayase was tired of his diatribe. "We'll be taking off now, then, if there's nothing else you need from us, Naruto."

Naruto gave a sigh and nodded. "See you guys later."

"That was a waste of time," Kiba complained as Team 8 left.

Shikamaru stifled a yawn just as Ino and Chōji exited the room with the others. "Don't beat yourself up about it," the shadow-user advised before catching up with his former teammates.

"Will you be alright?" Rei probed lightly on her way out, touching his arm as she looked into his eyes.

Naruto nodded briskly. "I'm fine. I'll catch up with you later," he told her as she left the room, leaving him standing alone in the briefing for as the door closed with a soft click. For a long moment, his mind was blank, yet beleaguered by the sour taste of failure. It didn't matter to him what they said. He took the second incident at the Hokage Tower as a personal failure. It happened on his watch. Therefore he had to be responsible. It irritated him how much Tsunade tried to shield him from the truth it was partly, at least, his fault.

The blond clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Would the Godaime have been as lenient if it had been someone else, or would she have shouted at them? Ridiculed them perhaps? The young jinchūriki gave a sigh of annoyance. He wasn't one to brood over these things usually. That was what made him strong: the ability to move past things. He would take this failure and he would learn from it. Of that much, Naruto was certain.

-ooo-

Naruto wandered about aimlessly on the streets of Konoha, disappointment on his mind that only seemed to increase once his stomach rumbled, reminding him of the fact he hadn't eaten in a while. "Heya, Ayame," Naruto greeted with lacking enthusiasm and warmth.

The young chef picked up on immediately, despite looking tired from a long day of work, especially now that she had to hold the fort on her own. "You're upset." He could tell her fatigue was affecting her usual way of going about things. Normally, she would have probed him how he felt. "Don't even bother denying it, Naruto, I am _very _tired."

Naruto smiled a little. How she managed to maintain concern and irritation so well together was lost on him. "I'll have whatever is left in the pot in a large bowl, please." He made his order as he sat down, picking blindly as he didn't want to burden her with making a new batch of ramen when it was just him.

"Spill," Ayame said as she grabbed a bowl and lifted the cover of the large pot of vegetable ramen. "What's bothering you?"

"I screwed up on a mission. It was my first time leading, so I'm kind of bummed out about it at the moment," Naruto said with a shrug. He continued to explain to her what had happened at the stadium, how he was put in charge of taskforce and how the Hokage's office was firebombed under his watch.

Ayame was sceptical of his reason for being depressed. "I thought we had the ANBU to take care of those kinds of investigations?" she asked, to which Naruto shrugged. "Sounds to me like you were way over your head to begin with, if they managed to bomb the Hokage Tower." Naruto gave her an annoyed look but she wouldn't have any of it. "Don't get me wrong, Naruto. I know for a fact you will one day become a great ninja, but as it is now, you're a chūnin and you've still got a long way to go before you're there just yet."

"But-"

"No buts!" Ayame barked with a vein bulging on the back of her raised fist.

Naruto's expression fell into that of dry bemusement as Ayame walked to the other side of counter as a newcomer walked in. "Umino-san, long time to see," Ayame greeted as Iruka walked into the establishment. Naruto nearly jumped as he turned around, immediately a smile on his face as he was met with the familiar face of his academy student.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed as he Iruka smiled, chuckling softly as he took a seat next to the blond. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Naruto?" Iruka said his eyes rested on the blond's regulation flak jacket. "Only thirteen and already a chūnin. Impressive!"

Naruto scratched the back of his had dumbly, for the first time in months feeling like the old kid he was in the academy. "Well, I turn fourteen in a week or so, Iruka-sensei. When did you make the bump?" Iruka hadn't actually ever told him that.

Iruka scratched his chin in thought as he Ayame brought his meal. Undoubtedly, the years teaching at the academy had gone by so fast he couldn't quite recall it as fast most shinobi would be able to. "It must have been six years or so. I was seventeen when I got the bump after a B-ranked mission to Kusagakure." The academy teacher laughed for a second. "I need to watch it if I don't want you to get the bump to jōnin before me!"

"Yeah, right, like you'd take the offer," Naruto grinned at the older chūnin who he considered to be like an older brother. "You get stressed out a lot, but I know you genuinely enjoy teaching. You wouldn't leave if they offered you Kage!"

The three of them shared a laugh at that; as Ayame went about cleaning the establishment, Naruto and Iruka caught each other up on what had been going on in their lives. Iruka listened intently and asked a lot of questions, ranging from his fights with Gaara and Neji and to his mission to Tanzaku Gai and his travels with Jiraiya. Naruto was pleased with the fact his sensei wasn't surprised in the least, or even remotely sceptical, by his achievements since his promotion.

"Sounds like you've been really busy, Naruto," Iruka stated the obvious jokingly. "I'm embarrassed to say it, but you've actually accomplished more than I have!"

"Depends on how you look at it, Iruka-sensei," Naruto grinned at this former teacher. "One day, you'll be recognised as the first teacher of Konoha's strongest Hokage in history. That's something I won't be able to accomplish!"

They spent the next hour or so laughing and eating as they exchanged some more stories. Admittedly, Iruka's weren't nearly as exciting as his, but Naruto had a good time listening nonetheless. It put his mind off the sting of failure, listening to his old sensei go on about Konohamaru's disrespectful behaviour (for which he blamed Naruto), changes in the academy curriculum that were putting him on edge and many more otherwise mundane subjects.

"Hmm," Iruka said as he looked to the clock hanging behind the counter, "I should get going," the chunin said as he got off his stool. Iruka reached for his wallet but then stopped, smirking at Naruto. "Say, Naruto, now that you're a chunin, we're equals, right?"

Naruto gave the older man an curious expression, nodding dumbly as he chewed down a mouthful of ramen. "Yeah," he said in a barely coherent manner, spattering bits of ramen over the counter, much to Ayame's visible disgust. "I guess so, Iruka-sensei."

"Good," Iruka replied, putting away his wallet. "Then I'm sure you don't mind covering my bill? You know, since we're equals now, which makes us colleagues and colleagues treat each other to meals all the time."

It took Naruto a moment to get over the fact Iruka had pulled a fast one on him and by the time he voiced his indignation, the older chunin had already walked down the road, throwing back his head in loud, boisterous laughter entirely uncharacteristic of the academy teacher. "Lunatics, perverts, drunkards and cheap bastards," Naruto grumbled out loud as he pulled out his wallet. "Why is everyone I know one of those?" he asked of Ayame, who offered a shrug and a disarming grin.

"Luck of the draw, I guess," the waitress offered cryptically.

Naruto rolled his eyes at her as he laid down a few ryou bills and headed out of the shop. "Right, I'll see you tomorrow, Ayame-neechan," Naruto said as he pulled aside the high curtains. "Oh, and before I forget," he said looking over his shoulder and smiling kindly, "I'm really glad you didn't get hurt today. If you'd been making your delivery at the Hokage Tower only a few hours later... I honestly wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Ayame seemed touched for a moment, but then she remembered one crucial faction. "Naruto, I haven't been at the Hokage Tower today. Since it's just me, I can't do deliveries anymore, remember? Not till Dad gets back anyway."

"Oh, right," Naruto chuckled embarrassedly.

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni - Undisclosed Location)

The rain bore down heavily.

Retching noises emanated from the small shack surrounded by a plethora of green; flowers, trees and herbs many of which Kisame had never seen before. The shark-man stood outside, his back turned to the small shack; a stony expression on his blue, finned face. His mind weighed heavily with the truths he had only recently heard from his partner in crime.

_"Kisame, what I am going to asks you will require more trust than I have ever given to or demanded from another human being, and yes... despite your appearance, I believe you to still be every bit as much human as myself." _

The shark-man's grip tightened around Samehada's hilt subconsciously. Only one with the kindness of Itachi, as deceptive as it may be, would consider him to be human. Kisame had long since stopped considering himself to be human.

_"From what I gather, you have long since known I suffer from a disease."_

The rain continued to harmlessly pelt him with bullets of moist. How couldn't he have known? It was not in Itachi's nature to take joy in battle or killing, that much Kisame knew long before, however only recently had it finally made so much sense that in times where they could have easily dispatched their enemies with their combined efforts, Itachi had let Kisame go all out instead.

And yet, it only made sense until now.

_"Someday soon... _I will die._ Before this happens, before I die, I must be certain of something."_

Screams resounded loudly as Uchiha Itachi went through hell... How many times he had preserved through this before, Kisame did not know, yet he could not shake the distant desire, as utterly human, as utterly compassionate, as utterly _disgusting_ it was in his eyes, that he could switch places with the man that suffered in silence for the sake of so many. **(1)**

_"Will you help me... Kisame?"_

Kisame's thoughts were broken once again by Itachi's screams. "Yes," the swordsman said out loud and to no one in particular. "For your sake, I just hope living a lie was worth it... Itachi."

-ooo-

(Konoha)

Epiphanies were something Naruto rarely experienced.

All his life, he had succeeded through handwork, determination, instinct and the occasional lucky break. It was because of this, Naruto never considered him to be much of a thinker. Sure, in the heat of the moment, he was capable of throwing together a few strategies and they were usually right on point. However, never before had something struck him this suddenly, this violently - never before had it become so clear to him what he was after.

_Naruto raised his right foot as he heard something crack under his weight._

_Naruto picked pieces of porcelain from his foot, "I stepped on something," he grunted to the raven-haired Uchiha scion. "What the hell is this?" Naruto stooped and found the remains of an _Ichiraku's delivery bowl._ "Stupid old lady..." With a shake of his head he discarded it, throwing it aside; the puncture wounds in his foot already closing up._

Naruto eyes widened...

_"I'm really glad you didn't get hurt today. If you'd been making your delivery at the Hokage Tower only a few hours later... I honestly wouldn't know what to do with myself."_

_"Naruto, I haven't been at the Hokage Tower today. Since it's just me, I can't do deliveries anymore, remember? Not till Dad gets back anyway."_

... as his epiphany took his breath away.

"No..." Naruto violent shook his head. "No, that's not possible..." He looked to his watch and then hurriedly scaled the wall of nearby convenience store to get a good look at the apartment complexes in west Konoha. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" His hands wove into the unconventional hand seal without thinking as he took off, his clone headed into a different direction.

Indignant shouts by villagers he disturbed in his flight went unheard as Naruto speedily darted from rooftop to rooftop, all the while mentally refuting his damnable epiphany. 'No, it can't be. It simply can't be...'

-ooo-

(Elsewhere in Konoha)

"Bye, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted from a distance as she headed off in her own direction.

Sasuke offered a noncommittal grunt to appease her and continued in his stride, headed to the Uchiha District not to rest, but to train. The new water ninjutsu he had copied of Naruto wasn't nearly as strong as the blond. Even if it wasn't his element, it was unacceptable to bested by the blond, no matter in what shinobi branch. Of that, Sasuke was determined.

It was just at that moment went Naruto flew over his head, bounding from rooftops towards the western parts of Konoha. Sasuke repressed the urge to shout abuse at the blond.

-ooo-

(With Naruto)

Naruto had no idea why he did it, but as he stood before apartment 36B, he knocked.

He knocked on the door of the address he was visiting for reasons he was still trying to refute, reasons he still desperate wished were unfound and as ridiculous as they sounded. He sighed with great relieve as the door opened slightly and Teuchi stuck his head out, eyes squinted with confusion and thick medical band wrapped around his head. The bandages were died red around his crown, evidently where the chef had hit his head after slipping over spilled ramen.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?"

Naruto smiled at the ramen chef, feeling an incredibly weight fall of his shoulders. "Heya, old man."

"You're sweating," Teuchi observed, frowning with concern. "What happened - did something happen to Ayame?"

Naruto quickly shook his head, not wanting to cause the man any alarm. "No, of course not!" Naruto gave a shaky laugh, not quite over the terror he had felt only moments before. "I was just in the neighbourhood... do you mind if I come in?" It wasn't like him to impose on others, but Naruto felt the urge to sit down.

Strangely enough, Teuchi hesitated. "Uhm, I'm not sure if that's a good idea," the otherwise overzealously hospitable ramen chef stammered. "You know, I'm still sick. You might catch something..."

"Catch something?" Naruto repeated, to which Teuchi nodded rapidly. "From your head wound?" Naruto said jokingly, slightly put off by Teuchi's strange demeanour. The few times Naruto had been here, the ramen chef had been the most hospitable host he had ever met. "Are you sure you're OK?"

Teuchi looked over his shoulder for a moment and then back to Naruto, giving a conceding sigh of defeat. "Yes, yes, I'm fine," Teuchi said, stepping back from the door and into the shadows for a brief moment as he pulled the door back. "Come in... I'll make us some tea," Teuchi smiled weakly.

"That'll be great," Naruto smiled back, though there was no mirth behind it whatsoever.

He had felt something just now.

He wasn't sure what it was, or if it was anything for that matter, but something wasn't quite right...

"I've run out of jasmine," Teuchi mumbled as he led Naruto through the poorly lit hallway and into the small cosy room. "Will mint tea be okay?"

Naruto looked around the apartment, for some reason _feeling_ it was a bit cramped, despite it being considerably larger than his own one-person unit. "Yeah, thanks," Naruto answered as Teuchi disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him alone in the living room to admire the framed pictures on the mantle.

Naruto smiled as his eyes well on one of Ayame in her toddler years; she must have been about three years old judging from her chubby cheeks and arms. As Naruto admiring the pictures on the mantel that were mostly of Ayame and Teuchi, a framed picture hidden behind others sparked his curiosity. Lifting it up from the mantle, Naruto noticed the woman looked quite a lot like Ayame, though her hear was a darker shade of auburn than her daughter's.

"My wife..."

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Teuchi carrying a small tray of tea and rice cracks. "What was her name?"

"Haru," Teuchi answered with a somber expression. "She passed away when Ayame was two years old. It's been just the two of us ever since."

Naruto wanted to, but he knew, judging from Teuchi's expression, asking him what had happened to her would only haunt him. "This is a pretty picture," Naruto stated, to which Teuchi nodded with a small, reminiscent smile. "I can see where Ayame got her looks from."

"She has her mother's face, but she's got my personality," Teuchi chuckled.

Considering Ayame's often unpredictable and near violent temper, Naruto doubted that with a dry expression as he went to sit down.

"Not there!" Teuchi suddenly burst out.

Naruto curiously looked down the cushion he was about to sit on and then back to Teuchi. "OK..." Naruto said slowly as he took another seat opposite the man. "Is this better?"

Teuchi glared at him for inexplicable reason for a moment, it was actually quite shocking, and noting this expression on Naruto's face, the ramen chef shook his head violently. "Forgive me," Teuchi apologised with a grave voice. "That used to be where Haru sat..."

Naruto frowned at that. He wanted to apologise, out of sheer reflex, but decided against it as he could tell something was off.

Teuchi was lying to him, that wasn't Haru's old seat. He knew that because the last time he had been here, Naruto could've sworn he had sat in the same seat and neither Teuchi nor Ayame cared. Granted, it had been quite a few years since he had been here, but Naruto still couldn't shake the thoughts he was having. "Why are you sweating, old man?" Naruto asked as he looked at the older man.

"Why don't you tell me what this impromptu visit about, Naruto?" Teuchi deflected. "You haven't been here in years. Now you drop by unannounced, acting all strange. Are you sure you're OK?"

"I'm fine," Naruto replied as Teuchi poured two cups of tea and placed one in front him. "Like I said, I was just in the neighbourhood."

"Did you hear about the explosions?" Teuchi inquired nonchalantly, raising his cup with two hands, "To think someone firebombed the Hokage's office, it's unreal, don't you think? I wonder if Hokage-sama's alright..."

Naruto emulated the older man and took a tiny sip from his tea. "Actually, I was leading a taskforce to investigate the incidents," Naruto revealed coolly; a calm he could not accurately described over him. "And I think I've cracked it."

"Really?"

Naruto put down the tea and gave a heavy sigh. "Where is he, Teuchi?" Naruto asked calmly.

"W- Who?" Teuchi stammered, his squinting eyes narrowing even further. "I don't know what you're talking about-"

Naruto's cold stare bored the older man, whose sentenced trailed off into tense silence. "I know you're hiding the culprit," Naruto stated. "How?" Naruto asked rhetorically as Teuchi opened his mouth to protest.

Teuchi gave no indication he was about to respond, so Naruto continued. "At the Hokage's office, I found the remains of an Ichiraku's bowl. At first, I thought Ayame was simply running deliveries, so I didn't give it much thought. It wasn't until I saw Ayame about thirty minutes ago that I found out she hadn't been running deliveries since your injury a few days ago... at that point, I knew something was up."

"It appears I have misjudged you," Teuchi began slowly, his hands shifting slightly, "I had always pegged you to be a stupid one!"

In an instant, Teuchi withdrew a tantō from under the table, kicking it upwards as he surged forward with a stabbing lunge, ripping through the table with ease as the porcelain tea ware crashed to the ground.

_Clang!_

Teuchi's eyes widened as found his stuck between the curved metal blades on Naruto's armguard. The blond retaliated on pure instinct, punching straight through the coffee table and decking the ramen chef in the face with enough power to buckle his knees.

Naruto raised unclenched his fist, extending his index and middle finger and summoning a large amount of chakra, expelling it through his body. "KAI!" Naruto's eyes widened as the genjutsu around the faltered and he found his instinctive feeling of lack of space was not unfound; they were standing in what seemed to be a workshop Teuchi had constructed. The entire living room was filled with ninja wire, explosive tags and other equipment Naruto did not recognise.

His momentary distraction cost him the momentum as Teuchi let go off his dagger and spun kick Naruto in the chest, sending him flying into a table. The chef deftly caught his blade midair and held up a single hand seal, a devious grin coming to his face as Naruto found himself wide-eyed and surrounded by several of the metal contraptions glowing.

_BOOM!_

The explosion that followed rocked through the entire village as fire exploded from the building and black smoke billowed like a hurricane to the sky.

-ooo-

Teuchi smirked as he landed in a crouch, throwing a satchel over his shoulder as he looked around the area. "The years have not been kind to me," Teuchi said aloud as he looked down his body, disgusted with weight he had put on in his years of deactivation.

A small part of him felt pity of the child, whose life had taken. "You should have stayed away, boy."

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Teuchi's eyes widened as he looked up wards, seeing hundreds of Naruto-clones erupt to existence in a large ladder-like formation, continuously spawning under the original who rocketed through the air, narrowly avoiding the aftershocks and explosions that continued to tremor.

"Ouf!" Naruto crashed into the ground on his shoulder, bleeding from a plethora of scrapes and bruises, but otherwise unhurt. "I can't believe it..."

Teuchi gave no response simply looking to the sky as the **sun was setting, **seemingly fascinated with the early emergence of the moon.

"_You_ were behind the attacks?" Naruto asked more than stated. It was surreal to him strange this all was. It couldn't be possible. He had known Teuchi was as long as he could remember... "How?"

"I had hoped to avoid killing you," Teuchi admitted out of the blue as he reached for his danger again, resting on his hip. "You were always so kind to us, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes continued to widen as Teuchi suddenly blitzed forward, once again capitalising on his inability to deal with the sudden truth which cost him, as Teuchi made sure to avoid his bracer and stabbed at his shoulder, aiming to disable his use of the gadget.

Naruto regained his bearings at the nick of time, sidestepping the attack and only suffering a gash on his arm. "I don't know what's going on, Teuchi, but this isn't you!" Naruto performed a series of back flips to avoid the older man's follow up of swipes and stabs.

Touching down in a crouch, he aimed for Teuchi with one palm and thrust forward his other with concentrated chakra. "Fūton! Reppūshō!" A powerful blast of wind sent Teuchi flying back, but the old man was capable of greater agility and finesse than Naruto had anticipated and used the blast of wind to carry him to safety as he held up a hand seal of his own, a hand seal Naruto easily recognised.

Looking down to the roof tiles, Naruto found several of Teuchi's detonation devices spread around him, prompting him to not release the jutsu but redirect it to the ground at a sharp angle whilst increasing the chakra output and blasting himself away to a safe distance, just in time as the bombs went off and debris exploded in all directions.

'He's out to kill me!' Naruto realised as Teuchi continued to throw projectiles at him with explosive tags attached to them, sticking to demolitions like a true Kagerōgakure shinobi would.

"Is it revenge you want, old man?" Naruto shouted loudly as he dodged the projectiles and redirected some of them with his wind jutsu. "You're from Kagerōgakure, aren't you? The village that got destroyed over thirty years ago!"

"You continue to surprise me!" Teuchi shouted as he surged forward with surprising speed and clocked the blond once in the stomach and followed up with a combination of kicks and punches.

Unprepared and unable to defend himself, Naruto took the brutal beating as he unsuccessfully tried to back away. It wasn't until he notice a drop in Teuchi's speed, probably from a decreased stamina after years of inactive shinobi duty, that he was able to dodge and retaliate with a flurry of blows to the older man's chest, striking him in key areas such as his thighs and kidneys, hoping to immobilise his opponent.

"Guack!" Teuchi spat out blood, much to Naruto's horror as his internal conflict with himself for beating on the man that looked out for him since his childhood was weighing him down with a mountain of guilt. It was because of this he didn't see Teuchi's elbow coming when it did and felt stinging pain it struck him square in the nose, following by a kick to his head that caused him to drop like an anvil, bruising the side of his face as it sunk a few inches through the rooftop.

Teuchi didn't let up, withdrawing his blade once again and poising it to stab for Naruto's neck, just as a concentrated wave of water blasted the man aside with such intensity, Teuchi shouted in pain.

Naruto groaned as he looked up to look at his saviour, who turned out to be none other than Sasuke. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke didn't look over his shoulder, but Naruto could tell he sneered. "You were getting beaten, I decided it was time to step in," Sasuke replied, unhooking several shuriken from his holsters and Sharingan eyes spinning wildly. "On your feet."

"Don't boss me around, you're the genin here," Naruto shot back, picking himself up anyway and reaching for his kodachi, though he doubted he could use it against the old man. "I can't hurt him, Sasuke..."

Strangely enough, Sasuke, again not looking at him, gave an understanding nod. "I know, and you won't have to!" the Uchiha added as he dispatched projectiles at Teuchi rushed forward, hands extended and his fingers going through weird motions. It was then Naruto realised what Sasuke was doing; he had ninja wire attached to the projectiles and manipulated their trajectories in circling around the target and restricting his movements with the wire.

It so happened Teuchi, being from Kagerōgakure, knew all about ninja wire and was able to not only predict but avoid the projectiles, and retaliated by charging chakra to his index and middle finger tips. "Raiton: Satsu Nagashi!"

Lightning surged forward, aligned with the metal fire, which lead it straight to Sasuke, hitting him with a shocking force. Sasuke screamed in pain that released moments later as Naruto sliced through the wires with his kodachi. He caught the raven-haired genin with his shoulder, keeping him levied of the ground whilst extending his sword, aimed at Teuchi in a cautioning manner.

Rather than attack, Teuchi looked up to the sky in a panning gaze as several shinobi appeared on rooftops nearby, readying their weapons as a leading jōnin called, "Remain where you are! Do not move a single inch or we will attack with lethal force!" Teuchi frowned for a second, then, reaching into his satchel and withdraw a glass jar he smirked. The jar was seen through and filled to the brim with a purple substance Naruto couldn't identify. Teuchi then turned the lid and pulled off the jar, downing the purple substance as his chakra began to rise.

"Attack!" the jōnin commanded as Teuchi dropped the glass jar, which broke on contact with concrete.

As the shinobi darted forward, soaring through the air, Teuchi's chest swell up and deflated as he bellowed the purple substance. "Hidenjutsu: Kagerōgakure no Jutsu!" True to its name, the purple haze continued to expel at alarming rate, obscuring Teuchi in an impenetrable haze of purple smoke-like substance.

One careless ninja blew a gust of wind, unintentionally redirecting it to some of the nearby chūnin. The consequences of this were unforeseeable. Out of nowhere, the shinobi began to cough and wheeze as their skin turned pail, and then grew a shade of purple. Their veins began to bulge and their eyes rolled back into their skulls; they began to cough up blood and struggle for air.

The gruesome scene continued for a few moments, forever ingrained in Naruto's memory as he saw a few shinobi held by others in order to prevent them from attempting to rescue the dying chūnin and be infected one way or another themselves. "Sasuke, we need to get out of here, that smoke's coming our way - Sasuke!" he gave a forceful tug, snapping the Uchiha out of his electrified daze. "Can you move?"

Sasuke gave a struggling nod. Naruto didn't buy it, and instead unceremoniously threw him over his shoulder. It was just then when a squad of ANBU operators appeared from the shadows, several of them apparently qualified to deal with the purple substances as they sped past the others, their hands going through complex and unfamiliar strings of hand seals before they extended their palms forward, fingers curved inwards. Whatever the jutsu was they activated, it seemed to act in a way similar a vacuum and siphoned the purple smoke-like substance.

Naruto looked up to the highest building nearby, following the gaze of many other shinobi present, and found Tsunade with her arms crossed of her buxom chest; Shizune was next to her, clutching their pet pig, Tonton.

-ooo-

(A While Later: Konoha Hospital - Shinobi Ward)

"I told you I'm fine!" Naruto scowled as his claims went unheard whilst Shizune continued to inspect him shortly after giving Sasuke a look over. "I wasn't anywhere near the smoke, I didn't breathe or touch any of it. Is this really necessary?" Naruto had yet to wrap his mind around the fact Teuchi... wasn't the Teuchi he thought he knew all these years. Adding to that, Shizune was once again persistent and unrelenting in her task of examining his health. "You hardly looked at Sasuke, why are you giving me this workup?"

"You were the only one that was in the apartment," Shizune replied with dwindling patience. "That fact alone makes it necessary we examine you in case you've been in contact with any other substance. Even the slightest trace amount of certain toxics and substances can kill you, Naruto. You may feel fine now, but who's to say that won't change in a few hours, days, weeks-"

Naruto groaned impatiently. "Alright, alright, have at it."

"This isn't exactly fun for me either, Naruto," Shizune said sternly. "Tsunade-sama is very disappointed in you, as am I. Sending word through a clone is not the correct way to convey information or ask for support, Naruto. What you did was not just reckless to yourself but to everyone in Konoha. What if there were other, far more destructive devices in there, or airborne viruses that could spread and-"

"Stop treating me like a child, I'm not an idiot," Naruto complained. "I didn't ask for any backup because it was just a hunch I had. I've known Teuchi my entirely life... or at least I thought I did. How could I have known something like this could happen?"

"You couldn't, that is why we have standard procedures and follow them to deal with unforeseeable," Tsunade fell in as she stood in the doorway with a chart in her hand. Naruto couldn't quite argue with that logic, thus opted to merely nod. "We got your blood test results, you're fine. You both are."

"Like I sa-"

"Don't interrupt me. I still want you to stay a night for observation," Tsunade rebuked with a pointed frown. "The substance you were in contact with is known as Purple Plague, one of Kagerōgakure's many failed experiments."

"Failed?" Naruto questioned. "It killed four-"

"Yes, failed," Tsunade cut him off. "It was developed forty years ago. The substance was used by sleeper agents to disperse in wild crowds. Little did those sleeper agents know that the kinjutsu they developed to house the chemicals didn't prevent them from dying. They didn't find out about this until it was too late."

"Sleeper agents... like Teuchi?" Naruto looked downcast, gripping his hospital gown over his knees. "Sleeper agents aren't supposed to know what team they play for, right?"

"That's right."

"So, the Teuchi I knew isn't the same person anymore?"

"You never knew him at all, Naruto," Tsunade shook her head with a gentler tone. "He probably never knew himself either. Sleeper agents are more often than not programmed at young ages. It prevents them from learning the meaning and value of bonds they create with the people around them... It makes it easier to betray them. It's why they usually don't have kids either. The fact Teuchi, or whatever his real name is, did is strange in itself."

Sasuke stared intently at Naruto from his side of the room, undoubtedly wondering if the blond could understand him better now, and whether Itachi, too, was, in some shape or form, a sleeper agent, lying in wait amongst the Uchiha Clan to one day eradicate them all...

"Naruto should get some rest, Tsunade-sama," Shizune suggested, picking up on the blond's desire to have time to think. She had learned to pick up on subtle signs over the years with Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded to Shizune as the brunette exited the room and looked back to Naruto as he pulled the door to a close. "Get some sleep, kid. And don't beat yourself up too much."

Naruto gave the tiniest of inclinations he was listening as he laid back in bed and let out a loud groan as the door closed with a soft clicking sound.

"She's right," Sasuke spoke up. "Don't beat yourself up. If you start torturing yourself thinking what you could've done to prevent it... it'll only make it worse."

Naruto glanced at his former Team 7 compatriot. "I know... and thanks."

...

Later that night Naruto was still wide awake. There was no way he'd get any sleep like this, with his mind beleaguered and tormented with memories he could no longer judge as real or fake.

_Flashback... _

Four year old Naruto walked alongside the Sandaime, holding the old man's hand as they went for a walk. It was a cool summer evening, the sun had set and most of the vendors were closing up. Naruto had been waiting all day for his surrogate grandfather to take him out for a meal.

"Where would you like to eat, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked the child as they walked down the road, receiving many different looks from villagers and shinobi alike. "You've been waiting all day now. I'm sorry my meetings took so long. You can eat wherever you like."

"OK, Hiruzen-jiichan!" Naruto jumped at that, tugging the aging Kage's hand excitedly.

"Hokage-sama!" a much younger looking Teuchi greeted as they passed his stall. It was a lot smaller than it would eventually would be.

Naruto was drooling at the mouth as the aroma of Ichiraku's ramen drifted by. "That!" he demanded with a chubby finger pointed at the stall.

"Who is the little one?" Teuchi asked. "Is that... oh, I see."

"This is Uzumaki Naruto," the Sandaime introduced the young child, holding Teuchi's gaze with a calculative, judging glint in his eyes. "I have taken a liking to him, as you can see."

Teuchi gave a chuckle, leaning over the counter and waving at Naruto. "Hello there, little one. Would you like a bowl of ramen?"

Naruto looked up to the strange ramen chef and nodded, grinning madly as he was presented with a bowl of ramen moments later.

_...End Flashback_

The blond turned on his shoulder, attempting to banish his conflicted thoughts to no avail. He couldn't shake the thoughts that plagued his mind with doubt, he simply couldn't accept the fact that Teuchi, a man who played a larger role in his life than he had previously thought, was a shinobi; one that tried to kill him at that.

"I told you obsessing about it would only make it worse," Sasuke spoke up, his voice was louder than usual, most likely due to the silence that reigned for hours up until this point.

"I thought you were asleep," Naruto replied, not turning to the face the Uchiha. "Did I keep you up?"

Sasuke gave no indication this was the case, but little did Naruto know the revelations surrounding Teuchi has spurred the avenger's own thoughts about his older brother Itachi. "Did he say anything to you?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked turning on his back.

"Did he tell you why he was doing this?" Sasuke clarified. "Did he tell you anything at all?"

Naruto frowned at that. "Come to think of it, no?" It came out sounding like a question, and maybe it was. The whole situation had been strange, but what was even stranger was that Teuchi didn't seemed to know about the lie he lived, but he didn't actually seem to _remember_ anything. It was as if he had read a report on his life and made references to it... "Sasuke," Naruto broke the silence again; Sasuke stirred somewhat to indicate he was still awake and listening. "Sleeper agents, do you... think it's possible for one to one day wake up and, I don't know, look back to the life they lived up until that point and actually prefer it so much they make a decision not to carry out their orders?"

"They're sleeper agents, Naruto, I don't think they would have much a choice," Sasuke replied.

Naruto sat up as his mind ran with his theory. "No, think about it!" he hissed at Sasuke. "The war with Kagerōgakure ended over thirty years ago when they were destroyed. Teuchi's in his early forties, isn't he? That means if he was programmed as a kid, he would've revealed his true nature years ago, maybe decades even..."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What are you suggesting, Naruto?"

"I'm... I'm not sure yet," Naruto sounded doubtful for a moment he focused his mind to the best of his ability to make sense of the matter. "Teuchi's sleeper jutsu must have gone off much sooner, probably sometime around his late twenties or thirties when he'd have been established enough as a villager he could move freely and no one would have any suspicions..."

"His daughter," Sasuke said suddenly, "The waitress, she is only a few years older than us, she must have been born after the sleeper agent ninjutsu wore off, assuming it should've gone off years ago. Why would he have had a child, for appearances' sake?"

"Maybe," Naruto agreed. "Ayame's mother, that's his daughter's name," he hastily elaborated, "She died over a decade ago... Maybe that had something to do with all of this? I mean, he said it was an accident. I don't think it was treated as anything suspicious, otherwise Tsunade-baachan would've mentioned it."

Sasuke gave a nod. "It's worth looking into," he agreed. "But now what? We're not supposed to leave."

Naruto gave Sasuke a long stare. "Really, Sasuke?"

"...," Sasuke stared right back, only persevering for a moment. "Fine."

"Attaboy," Naruto grinned, throwing off his bed sheets and slipping on the footwear supplied by the hospital. "How good is your Henge?"

This time Sasuke gave Naruto a hard, dry look. "Please."

Naruto chuckled. "Just kidding."

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital: File Room 04)

_Click!_

The door closed with a soft click as Sasuke passed Naruto through the door, and immediately flashed on his Sharingan, scanning the room in order to locate the right section of files. "Nifty trick," Naruto complimented in low voice whilst flicking on the lights. Sasuke immediately glared at him, but Naruto offered only a shrug. "We don't look like ourselves. For all they know, we work here."

It was true. Though it took some considerable time and bargaining, Naruto had convinced Sasuke in emulating him by transforming into a near identical, curvaceous nurse. As it stood, Sasuke had no idea that he had used his Sharingan to copy Naruto's Sexy Technique. 'What he doesn't know can't hurt him, or better yet, can't hurt me,' Naruto reasoned with himself.

"That doesn't mean we should attract more attention than necessary. And it's not a trick," Sasuked added pointedly with a disturbing one-eye side glance as the other continued to spin madly. "Found it," he said a moment later as he pulled out a dossier stamped with 'Ichiraku' **(3)** on the cover.

Naruto gave a low whistle. "It's a good thing they group people in family folders," Naruto noted as Sasuke laid out the folder on a nearby table and flicked on the reading light just as Naruto switched off the main lights. "Ichiraku Haru," Sasuke read out loud, pulling out a folder with several dates and figures, and most notably, 'DECEASED' stamped in bright red letters.

"What's it say?" Naruto asked as he glanced at the door whilst Sasuke read the file.

Sasuke frowned. "She drowned," he looked up to meet his former teammate's blue orbs, "She drowned in the Naka River after sustaining severe head trauma." The _Naka River_, it was as if the universe was playing a game with him.

"Head trauma?" Naruto repeated. "From drowning?"

"They must have chalked it up to her accident that caused the drowning," Sasuke reasoned.

Naruto frowned as he read Teuchi's file. "Teuchi was admitted for psych evaluations and therapy sessions for severe depression, strange..."

Teuchi had seemed genuinely nostalgic when he mentioned his wife, not at all as detached and distant as he had been during their brief encounter.

"Let's go," Naruto said suddenly.

"Where?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

Apologies for the two months wait, but I had other matters to attend to, you know, like being sick for a month straight, studying for a ton of exams and actually sitting them. But enough of my life!

I hope you liked the chapter, I had it nearly done for a while but like I said, I've had a lot of my plate and whatnot. No one who actually cared enough to hazard a guess got the culprit's true identity right, so I'm pretty chuffed about that. I'm not at all good at writing detective stories but this was fun to try. As you can probably guess, this arc was based on the Trap Master filler arc in Naruto Part I, but instead of Gennō, I've thrown Teuchi in the mix.

Now here's where I got a question for you guys, because I don't really want to make this call myself, should Teuchi live or die? Whatever you think, give me your answer in a review, depending on how many vote for him to live or die, that's how it's going to go down in the next chapter, which ends this arc.

Oh, and let me know what you think about Kisame's bit, I'm not too confident I pulled over his character, which, to me, seems to be greatly based around honour and whatnot.

OK, this AN is getting way too long, so I'm just going to end it with this: updates for this story and The Uzumaki Descendant will be more frequent from here on out. TUD chapter 2 should be out soon. Also, I've started to work on the rewite of Kumogakure Ninja some more and I really like how it's going.

Alright, that's it, see you next time, folks!

...

**Notes**

**(1)** Itachi's disease was killing him slowly for years. We were never given any explanation as to how Itachi managed to stay alive for so long, aside from his determination to die by Sasuke's hand, or what he did to survive for so long. I hope this scene gave you some insight.

**(2)** Naka river is the place where Shisui was drowned. Coincidentally, I couldn't be arsed to come up with another name, hence I'm using Shisui's place of death for Teuchi's wife.

**(3)** I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what Teuchi's surname is and I'm not going to bother coming up with an half arsed one that just sounds off. As far as I'm concerned, in this story at least, Teuchi and Ayame are the Ichiraku's. Don't like it? Sue me.

**Jutsu Used**

(Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu – Violent Water Wave) – C rank, offensive, short to midrange. Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases.

(Raiton: Satsu Nagashi – Murdering Current) – C rank, offensive, short to midrange. Simple yet effective, the jutsu is reliant on decent chakra control to convert chakra into an electric current capable of incapacitating the target through a lightning current. When used correctly, it is capable of numbing the entire body, causing internal damage and even death.

(Hidenjutsu: Kagerōgakure no Jutsu – Technique Passed Down in Secrecy: Hiding in the Heat Haze Technique) – A rank, offensive, long range. This technique passed down in secrecy from generation is one of Kagerōgakure's many failed experiments to create ninjutsu that could rival those of Great Five Shinobi Villages. It is deemed as a failure and classed as a kinjutsu due to high mortality rate of the technique and because the toxins it releases have been countered by ninjutsu created in Konoha.

...

**Character Stats**

Teuchi | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 2.5 | Genjutsu: 3 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 3 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 2.5 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 28.5 |**


	12. Chapter 12: Inauguration

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 07-05-12_

_Updated: 29-07-12  
><em>

**_This chapter marks the end of Inauguration Arc. I apologise in advance if it's a bit iffy since I had to take another break. And I don't know if any of you have tried this, but writing with the Naruto OST is a lot of fun. Really brings out the inspiration!_**

**_Props go to goku90504 for the grammar and spell check.  
><em>**

* * *

><p>CH12: Inauguration<p>

* * *

><p>-ooo-<p>

(Naka River)

The moon's light shined beautifully over Naka River, bathing it in its silvery glow. It was dead silent, an absolute calm reigned as Teuchi stared in his reflection, finding his face aged and plump and _repulsive._ How many years had it actually been since he did battle? He was a young man when he came to this village, on a mission to avenge those he loved... His name had been Hamachi back then.

_"Gennō-sensei!" _**(1)**

_"They're coming! Konoha is coming! RUN, Hamachi!"_

Teuchi closed his eyes, the distant roars of bombardments fresh in his memory. The screaming, the horror, the cries, the blood and the pain; the events in Kagerōgakure's demise flashed before his eyes. He had been but a chūnin then, though talented enough to be considered a jōnin even by the standards of the Great Five Shinobi Villages; he was skilled and disciplined, focused and driven. Had it not been for Konoha's aggression, he could've have become so much more.

_"Ge- Gennō-sensei? Is... Is it over?"_

_"No, Hamachi. It is not over."_

Tears, they began to drop from the corners of his eyes, yet he felt no sadness, nor grief; no nostalgia or even anger. He simply felt _nothing. _

What had happened to him over the past three decades as he established himself in the heart of Konoha? What had happed to him as he pretended to be a down to earth, hospitable ramen chef?

He grew old, that's what happened.

He grew older, and slower and gradually lost his kills to time, the greatest thief of all. Teuchi could not remember anything from his previous life, the lie he lived lasted longer than the life he lived before it. All that remained were fragmented memories, hazy images of people he no longer recognised and names he did not have a face to attach to.

Why had it last so long? The mission was supposed to have been completed many years ago. He was a sleeper agent, yes, but surely his slumber was not meant to be this long? Why hadn't he awoken earlier? What had changed-?

"Haru." He said her name in a whisper as the tears continued to fall more freely. Teuchi palmed his face as he began to weep. The reason for his tears became apparent.

_"Teuchi, what are you doing up so late? What... what is that in your hand? Teuchi, you're scaring me."_

Ichiraku Haru, the love of his deceitful life.

He knew not how, but he was convinced she had found out who he _truly _was well over a decade ago. Yes... yes, he remembered clearly now. Why did he remember it so clearly? He remembered every detail from what she was wearing down to the look of betrayal and dull confusion in her eyes as life left them. _Why did she have to follow him?_

"What have I done?"

"You killed your wife." Teuchi's neck snapped upwards as Naruto came soaring and touched down in a crouch on Naka River, slightly going up and down with waves as he suspended himself on the surface with chakra under his feet.

Teuchi frowned. "You just don't know how to quit, do you?" He gave a dry cough as he wiped the wetness away from his eyes. "You're a fool."

"Your wife," Naruto ignored the remark and pressed on, "Ichiraku Haru, you killed her, Teuchi. You remember it now, don't you? That's why you're here, the place you killed her. That's why you were crying just now."

The sleeper agent stared blankly. "Why are you here? You cannot stop me, child." Teuchi titled his head questioningly. "You are weak."

"I don't want to fight you, Teuchi, but I will if that is what it is going to take," Naruto answered simply, clenching his fists. "Please don't let it come to that. Let me help you."

"Your empathy means nothing to me," Teuchi spat venomously in response with unadulterated hatred in his eyes. "You look at me with those eyes as if are capable of understanding me, as if you know what it must be like to one day wake up and find out your entire life has been an ugly lie and that the people you surrounded yourself with, the people you grew to love and respect were complicit to the total and utter destruction of your people!" Teuchi was screaming at this point. "WHAT IS IT YOU KNOW? You know nothing! You are simply a boy!"

"Teuchi, please," Naruto pleaded with a stinging sensation in his chest. "It isn't too late to stop this! Just come quietly, Teuchi. Please!" Naruto practically begged him. "I can talk to Tsunade-bachan, she'll listen to me! It's not too late to fix this – _let me fix this!_"

"Enough!" Teuchi snarled as he slid into a fighting stance and dashed towards Naruto by use of Shunshin.

Naruto ducked under Teuchi's leg swipe and took the brunt of the follow up kick on his shoulder whilst placing a chakra-charged hand on his bracer, erecting lengthy, jagged blades of metal as he rolled several feet over river surface, coming to a stop in a crouch. **(2)** The blonde jumped, somersaulting forwards with a downwards slash Teuchi sidestepped and ducked under a roundhouse kick. The two engaged in a brief exchange of taijutsu, neither truly landing a solid blow; if anything, this clash was to feel out each other's true intentions, to gather whether the one was truly committed to take down the other.

Teuchi backpedalled several feet, nursing a cut on his cheek from Naruto's bracer. 'He has found some of his resolve,' Teuchi realised, going through a string of hand seals as he dropped to one knee and slammed down his palm on the water. 'But judging from his movements, he has yet to fully commit his movements to his goal.'

Naruto didn't hear him call out the jutsu but given their location, he had a good idea of what was coming up next and inhaled air, converting it to water with chakra and spat out a high pressure jet of water just as a wave of water came crashing on him. 'Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu!'

The Suiton jutsu collided with equal force, pushing back both shinobi as the lake shifted. Naruto cancelled out his jutsu, dashing to the left and throwing a handful of shuriken at Teuchi, forcing him to release his own jutsu and skilfully deflect the projectiles with a kunai.

Teuchi retaliated by throwing the kunai at Naruto, who batted it away with his bracer. "I wish it hadn't come to this, Teuchi."

Teuchi scowled at him with unveiled disdain. "Your naiveté is unbefitting of a true shinobi. Konoha has always been too soft on their young. _How disgusting!_" Teuchi mimicked his younger opponent's earlier attacked and threw hail a dozen of shuriken at him. The attack was easily deflected by Naruto, who threw a single shuriken which then multiplied midair and struck down the incoming projectiles. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

_Cling! Clang! Cling! Clang!_

The projectiles created sparks as they collided with clattering noises.

"For as long as I am able to draw breath, to wield a weapon, I will not stop, boy," Teuchi spat with coldness.

"Why?" Naruto asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Konoha destroyed my village, murdered my family, my comrades – they destroyed everything," Teuchi replied with the same coldness as they stopped in their movements. "And now Konoha will pay. I will slaughter this village down to every last man, woman and child."

"Including Ayame?" Naruto demanded with a shout.

Teuchi sneered at him. "What about her?"

As he said, Naruto's eyes widened and his rage took over. For a moment he lost all reservations about hurting the old man, and in an instant, he Shunshined forward, appearing next to Teuchi and slamming his fist in the side of his head with such force the older man bounded over the water painfully. "I see you've completely lost it," Naruto shouted, "The Teuchi I knew and loved would never think to say such things!"

"The girl means nothing to me!" Teuchi slammed his palms together and the water began to shift under him as he went through a string of hand seals. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" A giant Water Dragon burst forward in an explosion of water, surging towards Naruto, who went through a string of hand seals of his own and held up the tiger hand seal. "Suiton: Suijinheki no Jutsu!" The water beneath Naruto began to shoot upwards, forming a thick wall as he pumped the jutsu with as much chakra as he could manage to compensate for his inexperience with the jutsu.

The Water Dragon crashed into his Water Encampment Wall with incredible force, rocking the entire river. Naruto jumped across and ran down the dragon's neck, knowing that his wall wouldn't have been able to hold, not with his low expertise it. As with the Body Flicker, his technique was both imperfect and more taxing than it should have been. Nonetheless, his dare devil like manoeuvring kept Teuchi on the defence, and with another short burst of Shunshin, Naruto managed to blindside him again, and kick the older man's feet from under him, causing him to fall and cancelling the technique. Naruto tried to follow up with a heel drop but Teuchi used a short burst of Shunshin of his own and managed to dodge it, going in a series of back flips to distance himself from his younger opponent.

They rushed at each other again, quicker this time, coming to a stalemate as Naruto's fist struck the flat side of Teuchi's tantō. As they struggled, Teuchi began to budge and thus he tried to swipe at Naruto's eyes, but the blonde ducked and bull tackled him, driving his shoulder into Teuchi's stomach with enough force to make him lurch over. However, rather than saliva, the same purple substance from before emanated from Teuchi's mouth, causing an alarmed Naruto to jump back several feet back with a chakra enhanced jump. It was for naught, however, as Teuchi seemed intent on preserving the substance and regurgitated it almost immediately.

"Teuchi, you need to stop using that substance, it's not as safe as you think it is!" Naruto shouted in warning. "That stuff will kill you!"

Teuchi ignored him, resealing the Purple Plague within his body took considerable concentration, and by the looks of it, strained him as he veins popped up by the side of his head and on his arms. "Enough," Teuchi rasped, "No more talking. You should not have come, you have only hurried to your death." Naruto gritted his teeth, observing Teuchi stand up straight and go a string of hand seals. "Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed in anticipation of danger and went through another string of hand seals as he gathered a considerable amount chakra in the pit of his stomach and inhaled. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital: File Room 04)

Sasuke woke up with a groan and a stinging headache as he found himself lying face first on the ground in the file room. The raven-haired Uchiha got to his feet slowly, resting one hand on the table and one on the back of his head. "That idiot..."

_Start Flashback..._

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Nowhere," Naruto replied as Sasuke turned his back to him. With a quick chop of his hand, Naruto struck his former teammate in the back of his neck with enough force to knock him unconscious. "At least, you're not going anywhere," Naruto clarified as Sasuke's closing eyes turned to him.

"You... idiot."

"Sorry, Sasuke," Naruto apologised, his voice sounded distant to the Uchiha. "But this is my responsibility."

Sasuke's eyes shut completely as the world went dark.

_End Flashback..._

"You idiot." Sasuke scowled as he reached for the door, not quite sure whether he meant the blonde or himself or both. 'Where would he have gone?' Sasuke thought as he looked to the files he had pulled on Teuchi and his family... 'Of course,' Sasuke realised a moment later as he ran to the door.

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Teuchi)

Fire and water collided with great force, rocking the Naka River under the force of collision. While water usually had the advantage against fire, Naruto had channelled so much chakra in his jutsu it evaporated the water. While this was fortunate for obvious reasons, it also came with a drawback as Teuchi used the steam the collision created to mask his movements.

Teuchi reached into his pouch and took out a small contraption that resembled a breathing apparatus, which he fixed to his mouth. He then stood rigidly still swiftly and silently submerged under water. It was a basic form of ninjutsu Naruto knew about and could probably emulate but it came unexpected, thus leaving him open for a surprise as Teuchi's hands emerged from the water as the steam continued to cloud his vision, grasping his ankles and pulling him down, deep into the lake with surprising speed and ferocity. Naruto didn't even have time to take a deep breath of air as he found him twenty feet under water in matter of seconds.

The underwater assault commenced quickly; Teuchi slammed Naruto down even further deeper into the lake and followed quickly, torpedoing forward with incredible speed as he landed blows left, right and centre. Even in the cold water, Naruto felt the stinging pain as clearly as he felt his anxiety grow into panic; underwater battle wasn't quite his strong suit, he wasn't even that good of a swimmer! Panic and breathlessness made Naruto an easy target as his desperate attempts to reach the surface made his movements all the more predictable.

'Shit! He's coming back,' Naruto thought as Teuchi made a curving movement. His panic grew as a gleaming light caught his attention; Teuchi gripped his tantō and charged at Naruto.

"GARGH!" Naruto's scream caused him to lose what little air he had left and involuntarily swallowing a large body of water. 'I'm going to drown!' Naruto panicked as he struggled underwater, barely persevering through the nerve killing pain from his deep cut on his side as blood poured from it.

Teuchi remained still for one moment, watching the blonde struggling with the deep cut drown with a twisted sense of intrigue. Then the sleeper ninja drifted forward, driving his tantō into the young chūnin's stomach, fascinated with the look in his eyes as they widened and more blood spilled from his body. It was a quick, clean cut from which copious amounts of blood flowered freely; dying the dark blue waters a faint crimson.

Naruto's struggling movements stopped entirely after a few moment, and his body began to sink deeper into the lake. Teuchi smirked from under his breathing apparatus as the jinchūriki's body sank deeper into the dark depths of Naka River; then looking up, he launched himself upward and submerged from the depths of the lack, jumping a few feet above the surface before landing on his feet steadily.

A split second later he was forced to once again jump aside as a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it sunk into the water by his feet. The explosion hurled him through the air, not giving him much space to manoeuvre, just as his assailant had planned.

Sasuke appeared behind Teuchi, Sharingan spinning wildly as he copied Rock Lee's Shadow of the Dancing Leaf technique, the set up for Sasuke's own taijutsu. "Shishi Rendan!"

"What the-!" Teuchi's exclamation fell short as he was felt the sudden pain of a kick to the side which took the air out of his lungs and was followed by a series of blows, bruising the older man's body. Sasuke finished the Lion Barrage with a final heel drop that struck Teuchi in the solar plexus and sent him crashing into the water.

Sasuke touched down on the lake easily enough and scanned the area with his Sharingan as Teuchi, who was gasping and wheezing on his knees, struggled to retain the Purple Plague that once again seeped out of his body. "Where is Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

There was no immediate reply, thus Sasuke performed a series of hand seals and grasped his left wrist in his right hand. "Chidori!" he called out as the sphere of lighting appeared in his hand. "Speak or _die._"

-ooo-

(Naruto's Mindscape)

"You gotta be kidding me," Naruto groaned as he picked himself up from the ground. "Not this place again. It's a dump!"

**"You are weak..." **the Kyūbi commented in his booming voice as Naruto came to approach his cage. **"Once again, you have allowed your emotions to get the best of you. _You have no resolve because you are weak._"**

Naruto raised a clenched fist at Yokō. "The hell I don't! I was more than willing to hurt Teuchi."

The Kyūbi snarled at his foolishness. **"It is not enough to hurt. You must be willing to kill anyone and anything that stands in your way."**

"I'm not going to kill-"

**"You fool!"** the Kyūbi bellowed. **"You hear but you do not _listen._ That is why you are a fool, Uzumaki Naruto!"**

Somewhat embarrassed, Naruto deigned not to interrupt further and allowed the giant fox to continue. **"If you are not willing to kill, you must come at your opponent with nothing less than the _intent_ to kill, even if it is not your true ambition. Only then will you be able to overcome him."**

"Tche! Why should I even listen to you?" Naruto demanded. "You're a monster, you _enjoy_ killing and look where that's gotten you!"

**"As you wish. Then do not heed my warning,"** the Kyūbi growled, **"Clearly your cowardly methods have served you _so well._" **

"Sarcasm, Kyūbi? That's a first," Naruto commented. "Alright," he said a moment later, "I guess you're right. Kakashi-sensei once told me to do the same during the bell test."

**"I am well aware,"** the Kyūbi responded. **"Now go, leave me be. I will allow you my chakra to heal your wounds."**

"And I'll take it from there," Naruto agreed with a nod.

Bubbly, crimson chakra began to ebb his way and enveloped his body; instantly the sense of euphoria came over him and his mind found his inner calm. **(3) **Naruto stared at the Kyūbi for a long moment. "Thanks."

**"Get out."**

-ooo-

(Real World: Sasuke VS Teuchi)

Sasuke gritted his teeth, using a chakra enhanced jump to dodge another Mizu Kamikiri attack. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke retaliated by blowing a large ball of fire in Teuchi's direction. As expected, as soon as the attacks collided, Teuchi slipped under water again.

'Damn it...' Sasuke thought as his two-tomoe Sharingan eyes managed to keep up with Teuchi's movements under water by tracking his chakra but his body was incapable of keeping up with across-water human torpedo attacks. "Kah!" Sasuke held his arm as Teuchi once again submerged, leaving him with a fresh cut, deeper than the other shallow cuts he received on his legs and face. 'I could try to use the Chidori on the lake but there's a good chance I'll not only electrocute myself but Naruto too...'

It was just as that thought crossed his mind that a colossal chakra threw him off balance. "What the-!" Sasuke exclaimed. There was only one person he knew to have that much chakra... "Naruto?" Sasuke shouted as he looked to his surroundings. It took him a moment to see the crimson chakra shine from the bottom of the lake and a second later water erupted several feet upwards in an explosion.

"ARGH!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped up to see Teuchi fly through the air, holding his shoulder from which he was bleeding profusely. Naruto appeared right after him, landing in front of Sasuke, his eyes settled on Teuchi.

The crimson chakra that had surrounded him earlier vanished as soon as it had appeared, leaving Naruto's blue eyes temporarily slit. "Sasuke," Naruto called out to the Uchiha as he felt his stomach to check on his wound, which had now been completely healed. "What are you doing here? This is my fight."

"Shut up," Sasuke replied with a scowl. "He's too dangerous for you to face on your own. You won't be able to take him down as long as you're holding back-"

"That wound on his shoulder," Naruto interrupted; Sasuke looked at Teuchi, nothing how much pain the older man was in and how much blood he was losing. Naruto turned his head, his blue, slit eyes meeting Sasuke's Uchiha sight. "I was aiming for his head."

Sasuke's eyes widened at the revelation. "What?"

"I'm done holding back," Naruto said as he stood up straight. "You're right, he's too dangerous to be underestimated. I need to go at him with the intention to kill or he's going to end up killing me and a lot more people. I can't let that happen."

"What's your plan?" Sasuke asked as his eyes shifted to Teuchi. The older shinobi was cauterising his cut with concentrated lightning chakra. "He's getting back on his feet."

"Teuchi!" Naruto shouted across the lake. "I'm done holding back this time around." Sasuke eyed Naruto curiously as Teuchi's expression remained blank. "But just so I can have peace of mind, I'm going to offer you one last chance to just... come quietly. If you don't, I won't have any choice but to kill you."

"Then you're going to have to kill me," Teuchi shouted back as he stood up. "You could have done so already, rather than allow me time to tend to my wound. I see your companion has a sharper shinobi instinct than you do."

"Maybe," Naruto conceded with a glance to Sasuke. "It looks like you're not going to give me any choice, Teuchi..." Naruto held his right wrist in his left hand and began to channel chakra; Sasuke's Sharingan eyes flickered to the blonde, eager to copy another jutsu from his former teammate. Strangely enough, and unfortunately so, Naruto did not use any hand seals and thus his Sharingan could only see chakra spiralling in Naruto's hand.

"A new jutsu?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto didn't answer, running in Teuchi's direction instead; the older shinobi went through string of hand seals and slammed his hand on the surface, creating another Mizu Kamikiri. Sasuke had already copied it, thus he focused more on Naruto.

The blonde, rather than jump over the slicing water, charged onwards, smashing the Rasengan in though the water and drilled through it with ease. "Rasengan!" The orb exploded in a controlled direction, violently throwing Techi backwards, who had narrowly avoided it.

"You really are one full of surprises," Teuchi remarked. "That technique... the Yondaime Hokage's jutsu!" Naruto didn't respond and instead glared at Teuchi. "I see...," the sleeper agent stated, "No more holding back then." Teuchi took a deep breath and channelled his chakra as he slapped his hands together and went through a string of seals.

"Chidori!" Sasuke shouted as he charged another ball of lightning in his hands and rushed forward. "Don't let him complete his jutsu, Naruto!"

'You are too late.' Teuchi smirked as his hands met in the final seal, the serpent, and he mentally projected his jutsu: 'Hidenjutsu: Kagerōgakure no Jutsu!"

Teuchi opened his mouth as the Purple Plague began to escape at an alarming rate. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked to Sasuke, who had already cancelled out his jutsu. "What do we do?" Naruto shouted.

"Just leave it to me, you take him out!" Sasuke shouted as he went through a string of hand seals, Sharingan eyes spinning wildly.

It took Naruto a moment to realise the source of Sasuke's confidence; he had copied the counter jutsu with his Sharingan from the ANBU operatives hours before. Naruto charged forwards, forming pulling back his clenched right fist and thrusting forward in a palm strike with a powerful Repūshō to direct the Purple Plague towards Sasuke, who appeared to be struggling with directing and maintaining the jutsu at the same time.

"Go!" Sasuke shouted as the 'Fūin' sign on his palm began to spread over his arms; the veins on his arm turning into an unusual shade of purple. "Shit!" Sasuke swore as he felt Orochimaru's Juinjutsu spike. "Not now..."

Naruto held up a tiger seal and spat out a volume of mud through the purple cloud and wrapped Teuchi in his Doryū Taiga; he then gripped onto the mud with his hands and roared as he spun on his heel, pulling Teuchi across the sky and shouldering him into the lake's surface with considerable force. Naruto then channelled his chakra into the earth blanket to spread over Teuchi entirely and harden to the point it was completely solid, full-body prison.

"Gah!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Sasuke fall to a knee, grapping his now _purple_ left arm as the Purple Plague surrounded him. "Damn it!" Naruto glanced at Teuchi for a moment and rushed to Sasuke's aid, reaching into his pouch and retrieving a kunai and a wrapped an exploding tag to it. He threw it to the far side of Sasuke and held up a one-handed hand seal, detonating the tag to cause a significant explosion to blow away the Purple Plague. It wasn't ideal and it was risky, but it was the best he could do.

As the purple substance blew away, Naruto reached Sasuke and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him along as he covered his own nose and mouth with his free hand.

"Sasuke?" There was no response, and upon looking closely, Naruto noted Sasuke had passed out. "Fuck, your arm..." Naruto gritted his teeth and held up his unusual hand seal. This was bad, Sasuke would need medical attention soon or he'd be at risk of losing his arm at the very least. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

_Poof!_

"Get Sasuke to Tsunade-bachan!" Naruto ordered to his clone, which picked Sasuke up and threw him over his shoulder and dutifully charged off.

Naruto then looked down the lake's surface where the earth cocoon he had sealed Teuchi drifted. "Doryū Taiga!" Naruto spat a stream of mud and attached it to the cocoon and tugged Teuchi out with a powerful pull, dropping the earthly coffin on the side of the river.

'He should be unconscious by now,' Naruto figured. "Rasengan." A perfect sphere of chakra appeared in his hand, significantly smaller than his usual size, an intended result as he proceeded to drill through the thick earth.

It was just then when Teuchi's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, followed by another fist punching through and hitting Naruto square in the face. Surprise and pain threw Naruto off long enough for Teuchi to free himself and charge at him with blind rage in his eyes; as Naruto recovered from a crushing kick to the side, he noticed the purple covering two third of Teuchi's body similar to Sasuke.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Naruto shouted as he spat a jet of mud, hardening it with chakra to pin Teuchi to a tree. "It's over!"

"It's never over! _It will never be over!_" Teuchi screamed. "Not until every last man, woman and child in Konoha are dead at my feet! EVERY SINGLE-!"

Naruto delivered a chakra enhanced punch that went straight through his own hardened mud and drove it in Teuchi's stomach with enough force to take the air right of his lungs and knock him unconscious.

"Damn it... Teuchi." Naruto clenched his fists as Teuchi's fell and saliva dripped from his mouth.

Naruto stood quietly for a moment, observing the unconscious form of his former friend. It took him a moment to realise it, or perhaps, admit to it, but Teuchi was right. There was no coming back from this. Four chūnin had died by Teuchi's hand, he had detonated a bomb at the stadium and tried to assassinate the Hokage.

Teuchi was likely going to die, and Naruto knew there was little he could do about it. Tsunade would not listen to him, he knew that much, and Hiruzen would probably not even give it a second thought if he asked; he had been the one to order the destructive of Kagerōgakure to begin with...

At times like these, and so far Naruto could count them on one hand, he wished he wasn't a shinobi, wished that didn't live in the age of shinobi. How was he going face Ayame now? What would he tell her, how would she take it? He didn't know, nor did he want to. He just wished he could forget all about it.

Naruto looked up, casting away his troubled thoughts as an a pair of ANBU operatives made themselves visible on tree branches nearby.

"Uzumaki Naruto, we are under orders to retrieve and deliver you to the Godaime," stated the one closest to him.

Naruto simply nodded and gave a sigh. Tsunade was _not_ going to be happy.

-ooo-

(Some Time Later: Hidden Underground Sector)

The ANBU operatives brought him to a poorly lit, underground corridor with swiftness Naruto had a hard time following. He had no exact sense of location as he was blindfolded, but he knew they were underground, below the Hokage Tower most likely as he recalled being told of a secret passage once by the Sandaime. It made sense they'd bring him here, given the state of Tsunade's office.

"You idiot."

'Yep, that's definitely Tsunade-bachan.' Naruto recognised her voice immediately.

"Take off his blindfold," Tsunade ordered.

The ANBU operatives obeyed immediately and stepped aside as Naruto's eyes got used to the underground facility. "Where are we?"

"That's none of your concern," Tsunade replied. "The better question here is what the hell were you thinking going after him on your own?"

"Teuchi," Naruto bit out with a frown. "His name is _Teuchi_."

Tsunade folded her arms over her chest and scowled. "What does it matter what his name is? He is an enemy combatant. One you went after on your own while you were ordered to stay at the hospital for the remainder of your observation. You put every man, woman and child in this village at risk, Uzumaki. How are you going to take responsibility for that?"

Naruto gave no response, and by the look on her face, she wasn't looking for one anyway. "You know, there are some villages where this kind of insubordination is punishable by death." Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, realising Tsunade was genuinely irate. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Tsunade repeated sarcastically. "Really?_ Well I guess that makes everything OK then!_"

"I am sorry, Hokage-sama," Naruto tried again, this time sounding as formal and apologetic as he could and adding a respectful bow. "I take all responsibility for my actions. I only ask you do not punish Uchiha Sasuke as he was acting under my orders."

Tsunade scowled at him once more. "Tche! I told you formality isn't a good look on you. Stand up," she ordered and Naruto obeyed. "Bear, take the captive to the holding area. Interrogation will know what to do with him." The bulkier of the two operatives carrying Teuchi on his shoulder gave a nod. "Mantis," Tsunade turned to address the slimmer built ANBU, "Send word to Cat. She will inform the council the crisis has been averted." The ANBU operatives gave one last nod and simultaneously disappeared into the shadows, leaving Naruto and Tsunade on their own.

Naruto felt unnerved under Tsunade's stare, wishing she'd say something, anything. He wouldn't have mind if she started shouting at him, as scary as that was. "How's Sasuke doing?" he asked, hoping to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

"Shizune's treating him right now."

"Is he going to be OK?"

"Shizune knows what she's doing. He'll make a full recovery within a few weeks."

"That's good."

Tsunade looked Naruto in the eye and shook her head. "I'm disappointed in you, Naruto."

"Yeah... I know."

"No, you don't know." Strangely enough, she did not look or sound angry, simply disappointed. "I've seen a lot of people die, Naruto. Most of them were either idiots who didn't know their own limits or idiots who didn't trust anyone but themselves to get the job done. The one thing all these idiots had in common was that they met an early grave." Tsunade unfolded her arms and reached for Naruto; he tensed, having expected to catch one of her devastating punches. "You remind me of him, Naruto. You remind me so much of my little brother, it's not even funny."

Naruto swallowed thickly, having no idea what to say.

"I'm not asking you to be smarter than anyone else," Tsunade gave him a light smile, "You're not that type. You learn through pain rather than reason, you're just like Jiraiya in that sense."

Naruto gave her a curious look. "Then what are you asking?"

"I'm asking you to _not_ be an idiot," Tsunade answered as she ruffled his hair. "You've got all the talent and determination you need to become a great shinobi one day, Naruto. Don't waste any of it on stupidity."

Naruto nodded. "It's a promise."

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your tender moment," a new voice began from the shadows, accompanied by a loud, steady knocks on the ground, "But I believe this issue cannot wait."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked into direction of the voice; light shone on the newcomer as he emerged from the shadows. 'How in the hell did I not hear this guy?'

"Danzō." Tsunade's voice rang cold as ice and sharp as steel, much to Naruto's confusion.

"Tsunade-hime," Danzō croaked. "Always a pleasure."

"Can't say the feeling is mutual," Tsunade replied. "What do you want? Whatever it is, it must be important if you've taken the time to come out of your lair. Where would that be again?"

"The Root base is kept secret for good reasons, Tsunade-hime," Danzō humoured her. "I am here because of the Kagerōgakure threat. What do you intend to do with the captive?"

Tsunade's eyes levelled with Danzō's. "What is it to you? The threat has been contained. Interrogation will begin once he has been declared fit."

"I see," Danzō drawled. "I have brought some experts in case you require assistance." As if on cue several shinobi dressed in dark cloaks and masks similar to that of ANBU operatives appeared from the shadows. Naruto nearly jumped, but from the look on Tsunade's face, they came as no surprise to her, meaning only he was the one that did not sense them.

"Root operatives?" Tsunade snorted. "All boys, I see. No surprise there."

The Root operatives took steps forward; as did Naruto who unsheathed his tantō with his left hand and charged a Rasengan in his right. "Not another step, assholes," Naruto growled.

Danzō observed Naruto for a moment, seemingly bemused with the show of loyalty. "Uzumaki Naruto, I take it."

"As if you don't already know that, Cyclops," Naruto replied.

Danzō shot him a fleeting glance and turned to Tsunade. "You have tamed this one well, such fierce loyalty is rare. Though I suggest you teach him some manners."

"_Noted_," Tsunade replied with dry sarcasm. "Your assistance won't be necessary. The Interrogation Force should have no problem with this one. I'm sure it's been a while since you've used _Konoha's facilities_, but our shinobi are trained as well as yours, I assure you."

"I doubt that very much, Tsunade-hime, but as you wish," Danzō conceded with a slow nod. "Then, on behalf of the council, may I enquire what you will do with the enemy combatant post-interrogation?"

Tsunade glanced at Naruto; she could instantly notice Danzō's thinly veiled disgust as she looked back at him. "That remains to be seen."

"The punishment for any attack on our village is death. You know that, do you not, _Godaime-sama_?" Danzō challenged with a steely tone. "I see no scenario in which this sleeper agent can be left alive without remaining a threat to Konoha."

"I am well aware," Tsunade responded in kind. "The council will know my decision when I have one, Danzō. I intend on giving it personally. Will that be all?"

"The captive has a daughter," Danzō stated in response. "I will see to it she is detained and submitted to interrogation by my men."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and the Rasengan in his hand spiked erratically. "The hell you will! You lay on hand on Ayame and you'll regret it."

"Naruto!" Tsunade barked loud enough for Naruto to flinch. She then looked to Danzō with a cold look in her eyes. "The daughter is already under observation by a security detail. _She will not be touched._ Do you understand me?"

Danzō stared for a moment and then nodded slowly. "As you wish. That will be all then." Danzō's Root operatives wordlessly followed as their leader stalked off into the shadows of the underground sector.

Naruto released the Rasengan and sheathed his tantō and looked to Tsunade. "Who is that guy? I get a bad feeling from him."

"You should," Tsunade revealed with a glare directed to the shadows in which Danzō disappeared. "That man is Danzō. He used to be Hiruzen-sensei's rival and best friend. They had a falling out when sensei was appointed Hokage over him."

Naruto frowned with confusion. "Those men he had with him, the ANBU operatives, I thought all ANBU were supposed to be loyal to the Hokage?"

"Konoha ANBU, yes," Tsunade confirmed. "Losing out on the Kage title didn't stop Danzō from creating his own ANBU though. Over thirty years ago he created Root, an organisation independent to Konoha, loyal only to Danzō himself."

"That's kinda... _cool_," Naruto had to admit. A legion of assassins loyal to one man alone... there wasn't a scenario he could think up in which that was anything but cool.

"It's a necessary evil, is what it is, Naruto," Tsunade asserted with a stern expression. "Root is hidden in the shadows. We know nothing about them. We don't even know where their base is, or how many there actually are. And their methods... I hear rumours now that I didn't before becoming Kage. Rumours I wish I didn't hear."

"What kind of rumours?"

"The kind that imply Root operatives have been responsible for the death of Konoha shinobi, including several ANBU, since its origins," Tsunade answered with a grave expression.

Naruto had to take a moment to wrap his mind around that bit of news. Konoha shinobi killing Konoha shinobi... the notion was too foreign for him to dismiss so easily. "Only traitors though, right?" He had to ask. Even ANBU operatives could turn traitor, right?

Tsunade's answer and the expression that came with it were far from comforting. "I can only hope so."

"If Root is such a problem, why are you allowing it to exist? Why did Hiruzen-jiichan allow it in the first place?" Naruto couldn't make sense of it. Surely Hiruzen wouldn't allow such a dubious organisation to exist, especially if they had killed Konoha ninja?

"Like I said, Root is a necessary evil. Root operatives are all highly trained shinobi. They do whatever is necessary to protect the village, no matter what the methods, because it is in Danzō's interest to do so." Tsunade smiled mirthlessly. "That old war hawk probably loves Konoha more than anyone in this village, aside from Hiruzen-sensei maybe." Tsunade turned on her heel and he followed as she led them through the underground sector. "That stunt you just pulled with the Rasengan, it wasn't smart, Naruto." Naruto raised an eyebrow, mildly annoyed and indignant.

Tsunade shot him a look over her shoulder. "You've piqued Danzō's interest. That's never a good thing."

"Why's that?"

"All that old war hawk is interested in and has ever been interested in is war and weapons, and that includes human weapons. And the Rasengan..." Tsunade paused for a moment, "The Rasengan is a very powerful and difficult jutsu. Now that he knows you can perform it, he's interested in your potential. That much I know for sure."

"I know you wouldn't need my help dealing with his minions, I doubt they would attack you anyway, not in the village, and sure as hell not with only a four to one advantage, they'd need a lot more men if they wanted to take you down," Tsunade rewarded him with a smile, "But if he has his minions, then you have me." Naruto grinned at Tsunade's raised eyebrow. "It's only fitting. I'll be kicking you out of your office one day soon, but in the meanwhile, I'm yours to boss around."

Tsunade shot him a sly smile. "Did you just call yourself a minion?"

"Don't ruin the moment."

-ooo-

(Three Days Later: Inauguration Day)

Naruto stared at his reflection and gave a deep sigh as he fixed the sash on his hakama over his kimono. He felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach; excitement mixed with anxiety and nervousness.

_"Man up, kid,"_ Jiraiya would have said he were here. That, and a whole range of other things Naruto would probably get red in the face over. The Toad Sage wasn't around though, probably off somewhere trying to get some with Tsunade before the inauguration. 'Good for him though,' Naruto had to admit.

**"Looking sharp, bro,"** Gamakichi commented, having been summoned by Naruto for some company. **"Your,"** the toad held up a pinkie, **"Is going to love it."**

Naruto looked down to his wear for the evening; white and orange kimono and hakama getup that somewhat resembled the Hokage robes. He no longer wore orange while on the job, but it was still his favourite colour and this was supposed to be a fun night.

**"Make sure to buy some of those fried candies," **Gamakichi reminded him for what must have been the tenth time. **"They don't make sweets home like they do here."**

"Got it," Naruto said once again as he adjusted his collar. "You sure I'm not supposed to bring a gift?"

**"Hey, what do I know? I'm a toad, you're a human, we do things differently,"** Gamakichi shrugged, rubbing a tall finger to his chin. **"Why don't you ask Jiraiya?"**

Naruto gave a sour expression at the thought. "Not a chance." Jiraiya would probably have nothing but perverted suggestions, Naruto knew that sage well enough to know that.

"Yo."

Naruto looked from the mirror to see Kakashi crouched on his balcony, holding up a hand in greeting. "Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto lit up at the sight of his old teacher. 'No surprises I didn't sense him.'

Kakashi shot him one of his eye-smiles. "I just got back from visiting Sasuke."

"How is he doing?" Naruto asked.

"He's been released from the hospital, but he'll be put off the active duty roster for two weeks for rehabilitation," Kakashi revealed, jumping off the railing.

"That's good news," Naruto nodded. "I'll go by his place later."

"I also came here to see how you were doing," Kakashi said as he reached for his orange little book. "Jiraiya-sama said you've been training a lot lately."

Naruto's expression fell but Kakashi quickly added: "I'm not here to scold you, Naruto, I'm here to offer you my help."

"What kind of help?" Naruto with a curious expression.

"I am no longer your jōnin supervisor, but that does necessarily mean I have to stop being your sensei," Kakashi replied with a glance at the younger blonde. "There are still many things I can teach you."

"I know how to walk on water, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said jokingly. "Besides, don't Sasuke and Sakura need you more?"

"They do, but you are still a member of Team 7," Kakashi affirmed, "Therefore your training is just as important."

"It didn't seem that way last time, sensei," Naruto responded with brutal honesty. "Aside from teaching me to walk on trees, you didn't teach me much."

Kakashi gave a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I deserve that one," he admitted, "I owe you and Sakura both an apology."

"Forget about it," Naruto said almost immediately, feeling a sting of guilt. "Look, what happened before... it's in the past. I doesn't matter anymore. I really would like to continue training with you, Kakashi-sensei. Don't tell Sasuke, but I miss you guys."

Kakashi once again eye-smiled. "Then it's settled."

**"Yo, Naruto! You're running late," **Gamakichi reminded him, tapping a point finger to his wrist to indicate the time. **"You don't want to keep her waiting."**

Kakashi curved his head. "Eh?"

_Knock! Knock!_

"That should be her right now," Naruto nodded to Gamakichi, who proceeded to bound off to the door.

**"Rrrbit! The door's open!"**

"A date?" Kakashi deduced out loud in a questioning manner. Naruto couldn't blame his scepticism. "And she's picking you up?"

"I know what it looks like, but she insisted," Naruto shrugged whilst listening to Gamakichi introducing himself to Rei in the background.

**"You, I'm Gamakichi son of Gamabunta and Naruto's desciple!"**

"It's nice to meet you, Gamakichi-sama."

Naruto sniggered as he saw Rei walk through the living room. "You don't need to be so formal around this one."

"Well, I guess this is my cue," Kakashi announced with another eye-smile. "You two have fun."

_Poof!_

Kakashi disappeared with a pillar of smoke, leaving Gamakichi, Naruto and Rei to themselves. "Was that Sharingan no Kakashi?" Rei asked, visibly unnerved running into one of Konoha's finest in Naruto's apartment. "He's... different than from what I expected. What was that book he was reading, it looks familiar."

Naruto's eyes dropped in deadpan stare. "You think Kakashi-sensei's weird, wait till you get a load of Ero-sennin."

"Pass," Rei quickly decided with matching deadpan expression. "Ready to go?" she asked a moment later.

Naruto nodded. "You look great by the way," he complimented. And he meant every word. Rei had kept it simple with a white and purple flower-print kimono but she looks stunning with her hair up in a pin.

"Thank you," Rei smiled at the compliment. "So do you."

-ooo-

(Hokage Tower)

Tsunade's brows were furrowed in a seemingly permanent frown as he eyes scanned over the document addressed to her codename in her head.

_Hime,_

_Upon clearing the subject codenamed Chef as medically fit, we successfully penetrated the depths of his memories. What we found out was different to what we had expected._

_The subject's earliest memories recovered date back to the destruction of Kagerōgakure. From his memories, we learned the subject's true name is Hamachi. He has no family name. The subject was pupil to Kagerōgakure's infamous Gennō the Trap Master, whom we believe saved Teuchi during the bombardment at the cost of his own life. _

_The subject managed to flee the ruins of the village and rendezvoused with other survivors. Several years later, when the subject was 17 years of age, a jōnin implanted the sleeper agent ninjutsu and sent him to Konoha under the guise of a ramen chef. The subject remained dormant until twelve years ago. His initial awakening did not last long. Upon further investigating this matter we stumbled upon a memory dating to August 14, twelve years ago, on the eve of his late wife's death. The subject was found out by his wife, whom had followed him to Naka River, the subject's staging area. Chef killed his wife but immediately after suffered extreme levels of mental trauma. This trauma reactivated the lingering sleeper agent ninjutsu, causing the subject to revert back to his previous false identity. _

_The subject once again awakened little over two weeks ago after sustaining head trauma from a cooking accident in his establishment. We are closely monitoring the subject for the time being; however we can safely deduce the birth of his daughter was unplanned and that she plays no role in this conspiracy. We can also deduce from his memories the subject carries great guilt over the death of his wife. This guilt borders on the suicidal._

_If it is your wish, we may be able to erase the subject's memories and revert him to his false persona. However, the chance remains this will not be permanent._

_We await your instructions._

_Signed, _

_Mind Walker_

"Damn it," Tsunade cursed as she laid down the report. If there was a chance Teuchi could be spared, she felt guilty not to at least consider it, if not for Naruto's sake. 'This is ludicrous. I am the Hokage, I must act for _the greater good._'

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune called as he walked in the office, carrying fresh white Hokage robes and a matching Hokage hat. "It's time."

Tsunade nodded as she rose out of her seat, approached Shizune and slid into the robe. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

"You'll do great, Tsunade-sama," Shizune reassured her with confidence the Godaime could not entirely mirror.

"Let's hope so."

-ooo-

(Hokage Tower)

Naruto and Rei stood together in the immense crowd gathered outside of the Hokage Tower. There were thousand upon thousand villagers and shinobi alike gathering at tower's deck, where soon Tsunade's inauguration ceremony would take place. The ceremony had been intended to be held at the arena, but repairs had been slow and a risk factor remained, thus the area surrounding the Hokage Tower became packed with bleachers, food vendors and game stands.

"It should be starting any minute now," Naruto said, turning to Rei with a grin on his face. He couldn't help but be excited; it certainly was a fresh change of pace from the pondering and worrying over Teuchi in the last few days. "Someday soon, it's going to be me on that deck, Rei-chan."

Rei shot him a bemused smile, folding her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow at him. "Is that so? You seem awfully confident."

"With reason, Rei-chan, with reason." Naruto looked back to the deck on the tower as the ceremony began. To his immense surprise, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared in full Hokage garb, followed by several delegates of the Daimyō and other notable shinobi; Naruto could spot Nara Shikaku not far behind the Sandaime.

There was an immediate rise in the crowd at the sight of their beloved Hokage, and they cheered louder and longer than Naruto had ever heard. Hiruzen allow the crowd a few moments to vent their relief and happiness, waving back to many in the crowd.

"People of Konoha," Sarutobi's voice boomed throughout the area, "Today marks the end of my reign as the Sandaime Hokage after forty-five years of service. Many years ago, when I was but a young man fighting a war he did not truly understand, the Nidaime appointed me the Sandaime on the battlefield, moments before sacrificing his life so that the younger generation could live to fight another day and perhaps one day sacrifice themselves for the next generation. Along with the mantle of Hokage, the Nidaime passed on something just as significant, he passed unto me the true meaning of the Will of Fire."

Rei glanced at Naruto, finding his eyes locked on the Sandaime and unreadable expression on his face.

"The Will of Fire... that is the creed upon this village was founded, the foundation of our teachings. It is what enabled us to become the greatest of the Great Five Shinobi Villages and it is what has kept us safe for generation after generation." The Sandaime panned over the crowd of thousands, folding his hands behind his back as he chuckled with nostalgia. "On the eve of the Nidaime's death, he taught me the true of meaning of the Will of Fire is _love. _More specifically, it is love for one's _home_, love for one's _comrades_ and love for one's _country._ The Will of Fire is a creed of self-sacrifice and it teaches us to make sacrifices that take many shape and forms, whether that is to shoulder the burdens of the battlefield or making the tough decisions that keep us all safe..."

There was a long pause and the entire village seemed to fall silent. Hiruzen gave a great sigh. He looked as though he was a thousand years old. And perhaps he felt that way. "After forty-five years of sacrifice, it is time I step aside and allow the next generation to take over..." Hiruzen reached for his hat and, slowly, took it off his head and held it in his hands. "People of Konoha, I give you your Godaime Hokage, my former student and one of the Densetsu no Sannin, Senju Tsunade!"

The crowd roared and cheered louder than it had before. Naruto couldn't help but participate as the excitement of it all struck him in his very core.

On cue, Tsunade joined Hiruzen on the deck, and stood next to the Sandaime. Hiruzen turned to Tsunade and offered him the Hokage hat to go along with her new Hokage robes. Tsunade and Hiruzen exchanged a set of words and a hug initiated by Tsunade, who then turned to the crowds and placed the hat on her head.

Once again the crowd roared, louder and more enthusiastic and exuberant than before.

-ooo-

(Later That Night)

Fireworks went off in bright, vibrant colours in the night sky as the villagers and shinobi celebrated the inauguration of the Godaime Hokage. The scent of gunpowder, fried snacks and other foods stuck to the air.

"Look, Kaachan!" a young boy shouted, tugging his mother's kimono as he pointed to the sky.

Naruto and Rei walked side by side, munching on fried pieces of candy on sticks as they enjoyed each other's company. It had been a good day, Naruto had to admit. After the inauguration, they went and had a bite to eat and walked about the village for hours, talking and getting to know each other some more.

"Your first kiss was with a boy?" Rei visibly tried to restrain herself from laughing.

Naruto shot her a deadpan expression. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"No, you shouldn't have," Rei agreed with mischievous smile. "Because I'm going to milk this for all it's worth."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "You're going to blackmail me? That's nice. What could I offer you anyway?"

"I don't know yet," Rei responded with feigned mysticism. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"

"I guess so." Naruto couldn't help but grin back as she shot him a sly smile. She truly was beautiful when she smiled. "You should smile more often."

Rei laughed softly and pretended to not have heard what he said. "Well, I had a great time, Naruto."

"You're calling it a night already?" Naruto felt somewhat disappointed. They had been having a good time; he didn't want it to end so soon. "Is it something I-"

"No," Rei cut him off quickly. "I have to head back home and look after my sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister," Naruto admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "But, yeah, I had a great time too."

"Maybe we can do this again sometime?" Rei looked at him with a hinting expression.

Naruto nodded almost instantly. "Yes, definitely."

"Good," Rei said, shortly before leaning in and planting a light kiss on Naruto's lips that sent shockwaves through every facet of his being. Naruto didn't quite return the kiss until Rei backed away, pulling her into an embrace as he turned his head and went with his instincts.

"Wow," he said breathlessly after she pulled back.

"Walk me home."

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

My apologies for the long wait, guys. I know I said I'd be posting weekly in my last AN but that was, unfortunately, an empty promise. As it stands right now, I have a lot of things I need to prioritise over writing Potential Realised, like getting into university, getting my student loans sorted and studying for my exams.

But enough of my life.

This chapter concludes the Inauguration Arc. Looking back, it was a fun idea, but I might have unintentionally given it too much weight in what comes next. I asked you guys what you wanted to happen with Teuchi and the response was great. It took some time sorting through the reviews and the messages, but the general consensus is that, while it isn't pretty, most of you think Teuchi ought to die for the sake of realism and as an important lesson for Naruto. As for Ayame, she's going to have interesting turn of events, but you'll see it when you see it. I might come back to edit some stuff in this chapter - nothing major, just a few changes here and there.

The next chapter marks the beginning of the Return of Itachi Arc. I've planned some very interesting changes in the plot. In fact, it'll be completely different to canon for the most part.

**Notes**

**(1)** The not-so-very antagonist from the Naruto Part I filler Trap Master Arc was called Gennō. I quite liked that arc filler arc, so I used it for this one. If you didn't know that already, now you know.

**(2)** Naruto is using his bracer the same way Edward Elric used alchemy on his automail to make a sword weapon out of it. He'll be using the bracer in a similar way for as long as he has it, which is still undecided.

**(3)** Some of you might have noticed this the last time Naruto used his initial jinchūki mode; in this story, whenever Naruto uses the initial jinchūriki mode, so long as he draws the right amount of chakra he can handle, instead of turning into a wild beast, he becomes more calm and calculative like Sawada Tsunayoshi from Katekyō Hitman Reborn.

...

**Jutsu Used:**

(Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu – Violent Water Wave) – C rank, offensive, short to midrange. Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases.

(Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri no Jutsu – Rising Water Slicer) – C rank, offensive, mid-range. This technique will create a fast jet of water running through the ground that is powerful enough to slice through solid rock. However, it can easily be avoided by jumping upwards.

(Suiton: Suijinheki no Jutsu – Water Encampment Wall) – B rank, defensive, short range. This defensive technique creates a wall of water around the user. Enemy attacks are completely intercepted by a fence of water blown out from the mouth, and is raised from below with tremendous might. The wall can also be formed from a pre-existing water source.

...

**Character Stats**

Uchiha Sasuke | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 2.5 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 3 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 29 |**


	13. Chapter 13: Face Off

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 29-07-12_

**_It's been a while since I last updated, I apologise. Fortunately, I've got a few months off, so expect more updates sooner._**

**ARC4: The Return of Itachi**

CH13: Face Off

CH14: Outclassed

CH15: Cruel Kindness

CH16: Turning Point

CH17: Origins

* * *

><p>CH13: Face Off<p>

* * *

><p>-ooo-<p>

(Two Hundred Miles off the Cha no Kuni Shore)

_"This is HQ, come in Scythe."_

Rays of light pierced the moonlit surface above, fracturing and reaching hundreds of feet below to the depths of ocean where two dozen men in navy blue and black shinobi diving gear remained suspended in circular formation. The ocean was silent and tranquil at the depth they were positioned, void off life due to the ships above them, disturbed only by the oxygen bubbles expelled by the shinobi's diving gear.

One of the shinobi touched the communication device attached to his headgear. "This is Scythe Lead, receiving you loud and clear." Another operative made a wrist tapping gesture, indicating the time; Scythe Lead held up a thumb and nodded, waiting for a response. "What's the word on the operation, are we a go?"

_"You have the green light, Scythe."_

The squad leader looked up to the surface and back to his team. They were roughly 150 feet below the Red Harbinger, the Akatsuki flagship that led the blockade on Cha no Kuni. "You heard it, let's go. This is Scythe to Sickle, we are a go. How do you receive?"

_"This is Sickle Lead, receiving you loud and clear, we are a go."_

-ooo-

(Konohagakure no Sato)

_... and although I suspect her relationship with Uzumaki Naruto has become inappropriate in nature, it has not affected her work ethic in any discernible way. Nakamaru Rei has proven time and again to be a resourceful comrade capable of working in perfect synchronisation with the team and is a credit to the Border Patrol Guard's Nijū Shōtai._

_Uzumaki Naruto (SRC: 012607) continues to become a stronger and greater asset to the shinobi force each day as he grows in experience. Thus far, he has displayed incredible ninjutsu abilities far above that what his files have indicated, a suspicious error I have numerously reported to Platoon Commander Kizu Enrō. Though it is not stated in his files, Uzumaki has an affinity for wind and is capable of utilising fire, earth and water nature type ninjutsu, a feat that compliments his immense chakra reserves. Uzumaki has also shown exceptional control of the Kage Bunshin jutsu, a B-ranked kinjutsu he seemingly performs with little to no effort and on a large scale, often creating several hundred clones for reconnaissance and combat purposes. Uzumaki uses this technique with remarkable strategy and tactical prowess. Perhaps most noteworthy is Uzumaki's ability to summon toads, an ability he credits to Jiraiya of the Sannin who has mentored him in the past..._

Sarugaku gripped his pen tightly and frowned at the words he had written, glaring as he sat hunched over his desk. It wasn't exactly _easy_ to give praise to the one person he despised more than anyone. Bitterness and envy compelled him to write the following.

_However, for all his skill and talents, Uzumaki Naruto lacks restraint and has repeatedly proven to be a malcontent and a liability. He is often quick to challenge the chain of command and follows orders begrudgingly. What strikes me as the most dangerous attribute of Uzumaki is his unpredictability, a trait that could lead to unfavourable scenarios on the battlefield and potentially harm his comrades. _

Sarugaku leaned back into his chair, permitting himself a gratified smirk and a tug from his bottle of beer. He rarely indulged, but since he knew he couldn't leave out anything in his report, by mandate and personal principle, he allowed himself this vice. Tonight was one of those nights he wallowed in pensive self pity and realised exactly dissatisfied he was with his career progression, or rather, l_ack of_ career progression. Perhaps he'd even allow himself a cigarette too. Might as well, he figured, he still hadn't heard a thing from Enrō in regards to his ANBU application.

Well... _no_, 'application' was the wrong word for it. There were no such things as ANBU _applications_. Operatives were handpicked by the Hokage and the department's high ranking members. To even be considered, one would have to stand out amongst the best of the best... Still, there were ways to make your interest in joining the department known, and sometimes, and this didn't happen unless you were an exceptional individual, there would be a response. As it so happened to be, Enrō had some kind of regular connection with the ANBU given the fact he served as an operative in the Third Shinobi World War. Like most former operatives, Enrō didn't speak much of his time with the department, thus tended to dodge questions, but Sarugaku had heard the stories of the department's recruitment process. Anyone who wanted to join the ANBU would have heard a couple.

Some said ANBU operatives kidnapped prospects in the dead of the night, whisking them off to their hidden headquarters, the location of which known only to its members and Konoha's top brass. Some said the ANBU would plant an invitation for recruits to find in their homes or even on their person, detailing the when and where of a meeting. The stories varied greatly but truth be told, there was no real way of knowing how one could get inducted in the ANBU. Not even known former members spoke of it. It was as if they had all taken a vow of silence on that matter.

Sarugaku opened his draw and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Yep, tonight was one of those nights. He was agitated, sombre and in desperate need of indulgence.

He knew it was coming. Uzumaki was going to get out of the Nijū Shōtai before him, probably off to join a special taskforce or division that only permitted monsters like him to join.

"Kage Bunshin, my ass." Sarugaku exhaled a dark cloud of smoke and took another tug from his drink.

Yes, he could already see the smug expression on that blond bastard's expression. That arrogant tool, if it wasn't for the Hokage... Sarugaku gripped his bottle. How Uzumaki got so close to the Godaime so fast, he didn't know, but it made his blood boil with rage and envy. If only _he _had such connections... He would have been promoted to jōnin and put in charge of his own team in no time.

The disgruntled chūnin lifted his feet on his desk, only to accidentally knock over a near-empty bottle that spilled its remaining contents on Shikamaru's report. "Damn it!"

Sarugaku lifted the soaked piece of paper from his desk and threw it aside with a sigh as he caught glimpse of the rising sun outside. It was already morning, but he couldn't care less. Team 312 had some downtime anyway. He could rewrite his report later. For now, he'd go to bed.

-ooo-

(Naruto's Apartment)

The sound of running water resounding from the bathroom came to a stop as Naruto stepped out of the shower wearing only a towel and running a hand through his lengthy hair. Naruto eyed his reflection in the mirror, considering whether or not he should get a haircut. It had been quite some time since he had it trimmed; his blond hair nearly came down to his shoulders now and framed his face more than it used to.

It had been two weeks since Tsunade's inauguration, and a lot had changed since then, Naruto mused, as he sauntered to his bedroom to get changed. For one, he had a girlfriend know, which was still a completely alien subject to him. It wasn't uncommon for shinobi to get _involved_,quite the opposite in fact, judging from his days in the academy and his entire life in Konoha in general, but that still didn't make it any easier from him to get used to having one. Rei had remained pretty much the same since they got became a couple, if he could even call it that. Fortunately, she wasn't all touchy-feely with him or made him do things he didn't want to; there were no pet names or one date after another or anything like that. It was almost as if they were friends... who enjoyed some alone time now and again. And he liked it that way, it was simple and fun.

"Crap!" Naruto caught a glimpse of movement on his bed.

Ayame stirred and turned, blinking her eyes several times as she noticed Naruto standing by the bed shirtless. "Kya!" she yelped as she sat up and pulled the covers over her half unbuttoned nightshirt. "_Really_, you forgot _again_? This is the third time this week!"

Naruto had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry, sis, I'm bad with breaking habits," he apologised as he fetched a short-sleeved shinobi-styled shirt from his closet and pulled it on. "If you're up, you might as well have some breakfast with me."

The most significant change since Tsunade's inauguration was that Ayame now more or less lived with him. With her old apartment destroyed and her father out of her life, Ayame was left alone and without a roof with her head, and while she was offered another place to stay, Naruto fiercely insisted she bunked with him for as long as she wanted. She caved in pretty easily, probably because they had known each other since they were kids and were the closest thing resembling a sibling either of them had.

"And by that you mean _I_ should cook, right?" Ayame saw through his transparent suggestion with an accusing look in her eyes.

Naruto pretended not to hear her and left the room, turning to a smaller room that had server more or less as a walk-in closet where he stored most of his _crap_: boxes filled with old magazines, books from his academy days, dull kunai and shuriken and tons of other stuff he didn't need any more and meant to throw out a long time ago. Since Ayame was a girl and he wanted her to be as comfortable as possible, he let her take his room while he slept in the smaller one that now contained a futon and nightstand; he didn't need all much room anyway given the fact he was on missions.

As he entered his bedroom, he smiled at the new set of framed pictures on his nightstand, positioned next to the picture of Team 7's real graduation. The new pictures were from his fourteenth birthday. The largest could barely include everyone that showed up for the event at the barbeque restaurant: the original Rookie Nine and Team Gai and their sensei; Rei and Hayase, Shiho and Gikan, Iruka and Anko (who actually invited herself, though Naruto had no complaints), Shizune and Tsunade, Jiraiya and old man Hiruzen who had been accompanied by the Konohamaru Corps and Ebisu. They all sat around a large table as they celebrated his fourteenth birthday, but more importantly, enjoyed a night of relaxation with their friends; there were no gifts or singing as would usually happen at a birthday affair. If anything, his birthday was more of a secondary event, and he was more than OK with that. They all had a great time enjoying good food and company and Naruto knew he would always cherish the memory of that night; it was the best birthday he ever had. Fortunately, he didn't have to spend a dime since Jiraiya was feeling generous, something so suspicious in itself, Naruto just knew Tsunade had something to do with it.

He took a look at another framed picture of himself holding back Sasuke in the background whilst Kakashi, Neji and Gai struggled to take down a drunken Lee swinging his eyes drooped as he remembered the incident in which Lee had accidently consumed a tiny amount of sake at some point and went on a sudden rampage during which he broke the three tables, hit Chōji so hard in the stomach the poor bastard puked and gave Kiba a black eye. In another picture, and Naruto had to shake his head, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Hiruzen and Ebisu sat around a smaller table, red in the face as they read the latest of the Icha Icha series (in the background Tsunade looked like she was about to pummel them all). There were a few more pictures on the stand, he could stare at them for hours on end but he had things to do.

He got dressed in his usual attire sans bodysuit and flak given to him by the Sandaime as it was his day off. As he pulled on his fingerless, metal-plated gloves and attached his tantō holster to his left hip, his eye fell on the kodachi lying on his bed; he had been training with Hayase in the basics for a week or so now. Though far from an expert, Hayase was able to teach him some useful stuff, nothing too fancy, but enough to enable him to gain _some_ proficiency in kenjutsu during their mock duels.

"How do you want your eggs?" he heard Ayame call from the kitchen, disturbing him from his time consuming thoughts.

Still smiling, he finished attaching the last of his pouches and holster and walked to the living room where Ayame placed down to plates with toasts, some condiments and rice. They sat and ate, making some small talk as enjoyed their meal in general silence.

"How are you holding up, sis?" Naruto probed gently. "With everything I mean." Ayame had been incredibly resilient about the entire situation regarding her father. He was relieved she wasn't miserable, but he worried she was bottling up her feelings. That couldn't be healthy.

"I'm dealing with it," Ayame replied in an almost nonchalant tone. "Slowly but surely... It's not like I have much choice anyway." A day after Teuchi's imprisonment, Ayame was briefed on what happened. Naruto had insisted on being there when she learnt the truth from Tsunade. He had hoped to be some sort of moral support, someone to lean on, a shoulder to cry on if need be, but for some reason he couldn't quite grasp, Ayame, either through pure resilience or by feigning, had... _rolled with the punches._ She hadn't gone hysterical like they had expected her to, she didn't scream at them, she didn't even question they were telling the truth. Granted, she was genuinely in shock, speechless and tearful, but by the time she had processed the information, she seemed to have made her _peace_ with it.

Naruto couldn't quite relate, having never known his parents or what it was like to have any, but he was certain he'd lose his mind if he ever found Iruka or Hiruzen weren't who he thought they were. How Ayame managed to keep her sanity was beyond him. In a way, as horrible as it felt to think it, Naruto had newfound _admiration_ for her. She was a lot stronger than he had given her credit for. But still, he wanted to be there for her. One way or another, he didn't quite know how, but he just wanted to let her know he cared, so when she reached to refill his rice bowl Naruto grabbed her hand gently and looked at her with as much seriousness and empathy he could muster. "I can't imagine what you're going through, so I won't pretend to know what it's like, but please don't let this... change you, Ayame-neechan. You don't have to pretend everything is fine for my sake. I want to be there for you."

"I know you do, Naruto," Ayame acknowledged with a slow nod, wrestling her wrist free from his hold as gently as he had grabbed her. "Father turning out to be... someone else, it was a lot to deal with, it still is… but I'm getting there. I don't blame you or Hokage-sama for _you know_..."

"I'm sorry he didn't recognise you," Naruto whispered so low as though it hurt him to say it. "He didn't recognise me either. I guess I can relate how that feels, if only a little."

"It's for the best," Ayame said. "My father is dead. That man, that _cold_ person, whoever he was... there is no way that could be my father. So, whatever they had to do with him... I'm not necessarily _OK_ with it, but I've made my peace with it. I just want this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach to go away."

Naruto nodded slowly, not in understanding but acceptance; he wasn't going to dictate to her how she had to deal with this. " I know Tsunade-bachan said you could move into a new apartment whenever you want, but if you don't want to, you can stay here and live with me for as long as you like." There was an uncomfortable silence following his offer, he was about to take it back, but one look in her eyes and he could tell she wasn't offended by the suggestion, rather... _relieved?_ "I mean, we're practically family, right? It wouldn't be weird, would it-"

"No," Ayame agreed hastily. "I've known you practically your whole life. But, are you sure you wouldn't mind? Father used to complain I'm loud."

Naruto smiled broadly. "Great!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Then we can be loud together and piss off the landlord."

Had it been anyone else, there would've undoubtedly been an awkward moment following that statement. Fortunately, they knew each other practically their whole lives, so whatever room there had been for innuendo, simply didn't matter. "You can be as loud you want. I don't mind since I'm pretty loud myself according to, well, everyone." Naruto rubbed the back of his head; grinning like an idiot but proud nonetheless he made Ayame smile again.

"I'd love to move in with you, Naruto," Ayame confessed with a deep sigh. "I would hate living on my own. I'd probably keep saying "I'm home" out of habit, even though no one would answer."

"I know what that's like..." he mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Then it's settled," Naruto decided for them, ignoring her question. "You keep my room since I don't need all the space. I just let it all clutter anyway. Besides, I'll be on missions a lot, so I won't have as much as need as you do, especially since you're a girl and all." Ayame ignored that last remark. Usually, she would've chewed the blond out for it, but she didn't want to ruin the moment.

Naruto wolfed down the last of his meal and got up. "I'm going to pay Hiruzen-jiji a visit later so I'll probably be home late, _don't wait up_," he added jokingly.

Ayame simply rolled her eyes at him.

…

Standing outside of the door, Naruto's carefree smile melted off his face, replaced by more serious expression. It had become a ritual of his to take a minute and settle his demeanour. 'If Ayame-neechan is gonna stay with me permanently, I guess I'll have to tell her eventually…' He could only imagine Ayame's reaction to finding out what he was. It wasn't a conversation he looked forward to.

-ooo-

(Konoha Academy Training Ground)

"You're late again!" Konohamaru complained loudly as Naruto approached the Konohamaru Corps. "Why is it you're always late for our training, Naruto-niichan?"

Naruto squint his eyes in a silly expression, much like the one Jiraiya did to him during their training sessions. "You dare complain when you are being taught by the great Uzumaki Naruto?" He cracked his knuckles in feigned menace. "Perhaps we should focus on taijutsu today, what do you say, Konohamaru-kun?"

All colour drained from Udon and Moegi's faces but Konoha stood his ground and raised a defiant fist at the blond. "You talk big now, Naruto-niichan, but one day I'll make you eat those words. Just as soon as I perfect my new jutsu..."

Naruto crossed his arms over his shoulders and grinned cockily. "Your new jutsu?" he raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh, I want to see this. Show me what you got."

"It's not finished," Konohamaru said, getting somewhat red in the face, flushed at being put on the spot. "But fine!" he burst out. "Behold, my new perverted nin-"

_Crack!_

"CUT IT OUT!" Moegi bellowed, raising her fist from her fellow academy student's cranium, who now rolled on the ground holding his head in pain.

Naruto could only laugh at the youngster's misfortune. "Rookie mistake, Konohamaru. You never show off that type of technique off in front of girls, that's just asking for it. Now then," he clapped his hands together as Konohamaru got to his feet, shooting Moegi a resentful glance. "It's time to get started. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With pillars of smoke, two identical Shadow Clones appeared next to the original. "We're going to see if we can get the Kawarimi down today. You've memorised the theory, haven't you?" The three nodded simultaneously. "Good, then let's get started."

...

Two hours later, Naruto held up a hand and looking to his clones as they taught Konohamaru and Udon. "OK, that's enough for today. You're slowly but surely getting there."

"Why is it taking us this long?" Konohamaru complained in a whining tone. "We've been at it for three days but we still can't get it down! And it's only an E-ranked jutsu!"

Naruto shook his head at the young shinobi. "Practice makes perfect. I was so dense and lazy in the academy it took me the better part of a year to master this jutsu. It may be only an E-ranked jutsu, but it's incredibly useful and literally a lifesaver. Flashy techniques are great and all, but they're next to useless if you don't know the basics."

"But Naruto-niichan, aren't higher ranked techniques better?" Moegi asked innocently.

As if on cue the clone opposite her went through a string of hand seals took a deep breath. "Katon-!"

Before even a wisp of flame could escape, the second clone threw a kunai at the first, dispelling the clone and cancelling the jutsu.

"Does that answer your question?" asked the second Naruto-clone. "If you can't Substitute in a fight, you'll likely be dead in seconds. Especially if you're caught going through hand seals or charging chakra."

Naruto glared at his clone. "Shut up, I was going to say that." The clone stuck out his tongue and dispelled itself, leaving the original to turn to his students. "Now you know just how useful the Kawarimi jutsu is, I expect to you never underestimate it or any other low-ranked jutsu. It's not jutsu that win the fight for you, you have to have to work at it and you have to be able to use your jutsu effectively. Understood?" The three nodded once again, this time with more vigour. "Good. Then let's get out stuff and get out of here."

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

Kisame rested Samehada on his shoulder, turning to look Itachi as the raven-haired Uchiha approached him, unravelling bandages from around his forehead. "Ready to go?" The question was pointless, S-ranked shinobi knew better than to rush their recovery. If they didn't, they wouldn't have lived long enough to reach such status.

Itachi merely nodded, he looked pale and fragile; Kisame chalked it up to his partner's strange diet which consisted mostly out of herbs and elixirs Kisame could not stand the stench of. "Gaining entry may be difficult. The invasion has left Konoha tense," he stated the obvious.

"Do not worry, I will take care of it." Itachi removed the last of the bandages and slid on his Akatsuki cloak and affixed his straw hat. "Let's go..." Itachi stalked past the large shark-man, slowly yet steady and purposefully as though nothing could stop him from reaching his destination. "This... side trip took longer than I had expected. We must hurry."

"Why is it important this Danzō person knows you are alive?" Kisame remained where he stood, and had no intention to move until his question was answered.

Itachi picked up on this and turned to his partner. "It is important... so that he stays away."

"Stays away?" Kisame repeated with confusion. "Stays away from what?" Exactly what was his stoic partner afraid of? Kisame rarely saw even a hint of emotion from the Uchiha, but he knew Itachi, for all his power, was still a man, and all men knew fear, even Itachi. If not for themselves, for someone else.

This time Itachi did not stop to answer, nor did he give any indication he was going to as he continued to walk. It became clear to the former Kiri shinobi he would not get an answer to that question. There were some things men simply did not share, not even if it meant breaking up a partnership through their silence.

Kisame shook his head with a wry smile. "You're a strange one, Itachi," he said as he began to move in the same direction.

"As are you, Kisame."

-ooo-

(Dango Shop)

"Thanks for the meal, Naruto-niichan!" Konohamaru and Moegi said in unison as they hopped of the stools and left the dango shop.

"Thank you for the meal, Naruto-niisama," Udon added with a respectful bow of his head.

"Stay out of trouble!" Naruto yelled after them, addressing the Sandaime's grandson more than anyone. "I mean it, Konohamaru!"

The young brat wave and nodded his head dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Naruto-niichan!"

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh, knowing full well the Konohamaru Corps would most definitely not stay out of trouble. Moegi and Udon weren't the problem, they were rather polite and kind, but Konohamaru worshipped chaos much like he himself used to back in the academy.

"Oh, well if it isn't my favourite blondie!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder and met Anko with a deadpan stare. He had yet to forget her _behaviour_ at the restaurant. "What do you want?" It came out sounding rather moody but it wasn't exactly easy being civil to her after that_ incident._

Anko lifted several ryō bills from the toad-shaped wallet in her hands and paid the vendor. She smiled coyly at him as she approached holding a tray with over a dango sticks stacked on it. "Are you still upset about last time?" she needlessly asked as he devoured a stick with as much grace as Jiraiya behind a peephole. "I apologised didn't I?"

"You tried to molest me in the men's bathroom and I'm pretty sure that's my wallet," he added pointing at it as she stowed it under shirt.

"Nonsense, this is a common wallet, I've had it since I was a little girl. And molest you?" Anko exclaimed with mock indignation. "Come now. I was simply trying to give you a gift."

"Stick to regular gifts next time, like a book or a scarf or that wallet?" Anko rolled her eyes and retrieved the toad-shaped wallet and tossed it to him. "Thanks."

"For the record, it was Jiraiya-sama's idea," Anko admitted with a toothy smile adorned with dango sauce. "Does he know you don't like pussy?"

"I have a girlfriend!" Naruto snapped at her, red in the face over her crude language. "And you're insane."

"And you're boring," Anko stuck her tongue at him as she left the dango shop. "Bye!"

Naruto shook his head a few times as he walked off in the opposite direction.

-ooo-

(Hokage Tower)

Shizune pushed past the heavy oak doors as she entered Hokage's office, clutching a fresh stack of mission files for Tsunade to go over. Things were just about getting quieter in the tower now that they had finally caught up with the majority of paperwork backlog that went untouched during Hiruzen's convalescence. "Tsunade-sama," Shizune addressed the Godaime as she approached her desk.

"Not now, Shizune. You can put those there." Tsunade sat behind her desk, leaning into her chair as her eyes remained glued to the unfurled scroll in her hands.

"Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune recognised the Toad Sage's mark on the scroll. Tsunade nodded, tossing the scroll to her.

_Hime,_

_The rumours I set out to investigate appear to be midway truth and false. My contacts in Ishi, Taki and Hoshi have all confirmed the village leaders were invited by Kusa envoys to attend a secret summit in Shimo no Kuni one month from now. The precise time and location of the summit are currently unknown, but from what I have gathered, this meeting is of a militaristic nature. To what extent, I can only guess, but I believe in time other minor villages with significant military power will be invited to attend the summit. In other words, it is likely our old acquaintance Hebi will be approached and he will likely attend if he stands to gain._

_My contact in Ishi, Boulder, has assured me Ishi will attend the summit only to gather information. I trust him on his word, Hime, we fought side by side in the rebellion that forged Ishigakure. After all Konoha has done to aid them, it is unlikely Ishi will betray us; we have the allegiance of many of their council._

_I predict I will have more information soon. _

_Until then,_

_Gama_

Shizune looked up from the letter to Tsunade with a suspicious frown. "Boulder?"

"It's a codename used by a... uncouth man from Ishigakure," Tsunade folded her arms over chest with angry red tinge gracing her cheeks. Shizune noticed her right hand tightly gripping her left arm; whoever this Boulder was, he must have gotten on her nerves. "I met him only a few times myself, but Jiraiya considers him a close friend. They're something like war buddies, in fact," Tsunade released an exasperated huff in remembrance, "The two of them could be brothers. They met during Ishigakure's infant years."

Shizune had heard of the Hidden Stone village before. Anyone that knew anything about the Second Shinobi World War knew about the Hidden Stone. It was a shinobi village born from the mutiny within the Iwagakure war machine that occurred towards the end of the war. The history surrounding the emergence of the Hidden Stone began with several high ranking members of Iwa's shinobi forces when it became apparent Konoha and its allies were going to win. The Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki, refused to call for an armistice and with the Daimyō of Tsuchi no Kuni firmly supporting Ōnoki, the opposition's leaders felt they had no other choice, and thus rebelled in an attempt to remove the Sandaime Tsuchikage, a fatal attempt for most of the rebel leaders, who were executed publicly before they had the chance to mobilise. Those that survived the short lived civil war that followed fled to Mineral County, Iwa's infinitesimal neighbouring country.

The Daimyō of Mineral Country, related to the Rock Country's royal house, had long resented having to rely on his relatives for protection, and openly welcomed the former Iwa shinobi and allowed them to remain within his country in exchange for their fealty. Naturally, this caused an international uproar, and as Tsuchi no Kuni's Daimyō marched in his army and shinobi force, the Sandaime Hokage saw an opportunity to force Tsuchi no Kuni in a war on two fronts, counselled the Hi no Kuni Daimyō to give military aid to Mineral Country.

"Tsunade-sama, exactly how does Jiraiya-sama know this Boulder person?" Shizune asked.

"Around the time Ishigakure was being set up, many of their shinobi were young, inexperienced and poorly trained," Tsunade began to explain. "Hiruzen-sensei sent us along with other shinobi to teach them what we could to fight Iwa shinobi."

A dawning expression befell Shizune. History had always been a passion of hers in when she was younger. "What did you teach them?"

Tsunade sucked her teeth with mild irritation. All these questions were making her really feel her age. "I taught them basic field medic techniques with the little time I spent there. Jiraiya and Orochimaru taught ninjutsu... I guess that's how they met Kinzen."

"Kinzen?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Boulder's real name," she elaborated. "Kinzen was plenty strong on his own, so he helped Jiraiya in teaching, and I guess the pervert got a real taste for it since not long after he..." Tsunade fell quiet as she was revisited by the memory of the three young Amegakure orphans they came across after their defeat at the hands of Hanzō the Salamander... Those three orphans had long since died, so he heard from Jiraiya many years ago. Tsunade smiled mirthlessly, Jiraiya carried their deaths the same way she carried the deaths of Dan and Nawaki.

"He what, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked tentatively, sensing a discomfort in her master.

"That is a story for another day," Tsunade decided firmly. "Anyway, Jiraiya and Kinzen got along better than most. They fought constantly, but they were like brothers. I suppose Jiraiya took a liking to him since they were so alike, and he was an orphan himself, so while he had me, sensei and _Orochimaru_," she said the name with disgust, "He never quite he had anyone he considered family. Kinzen was like the brother he never had, he even used to joke they must have been separated at birth."

"Oh," Shizune said quietly. She couldn't think of anything else to say. For as long as she had known Jiraiya, she had never once considered the burdens he carried. The Sage was always so cheerful, she didn't even begin to think of his past. "You care for him a lot, don't you, Tsunade-sama? You know Jiraiya-sama better than anyone."

"That will be all, Shizune," Tsunade replied dismissively, bringing the conversation to an end. "Get back to work."

-ooo-

(Sarutobi Compound)

The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure lied peacefully in his bed as he awoke to the sound of tipping water resonating from the gardens, the scent of herbs and flowers and the warmth of the afternoon sun. The former Kage heard footsteps down the hall outside of his room and sat up just as the doors slid open and allowed entry several of his clansmen who accompanied another.

"How have you been, Kosuke? It's been a long time." Hiruzen smiled at the sight of his old friend.

Maruboshi Kosuke **(2)** was an elderly man in his late sixties also known as the Ten-Thousand-Year Genin. Kosuke had distinctive green eyes and wore his grey hair in a short ponytail. His attire consisted of a mesh armour shirt under a short brown sleeveless kimono and grey shinobi trousers. On his back, Kosuke carried a metal pan, under which he fastened a bundle of kitchenware; across his lower back, he carried a sword sheathed horizontally.

"Too long, old friend," Kosuke hummed with a smile as he sat down by Hiruzen's bed. "Would you care for some stew?"

"Have I ever passed up on the opportunity?" Hiruzen asked jokingly. He turned to his clansmen waiting by the door and gave a nod. "Thank you." The Sarutobi clansmen took their dismissal and bowed on their way out, sliding the door to a close.

Kosuke began to set up his cooking equipment and materials as he spoke. "I would have come sooner, but I was told you needed your rest." The elderly genin settled his pan on the wooden stand and unfurled a scroll, from which he unsealed a tank of water.

"I could use a good square meal," Hiruzen chuckled. "I'm just about done with these," the Sarutobi Clan head gestured to the IV stand next to his bed. "Has Tsunade propositioned you yet?"

Kosuke hum-laughed, giving a nod as he began peeling potatoes on his lap and diced them into small cubes. "She did."

"And you said no?" Hiruzen knew the answer before he got it. "Of course," he chuckled. At this point, he couldn't blame him. "Some spices, please," the former Kage motioned to a bundle of green and red peppers. "They don't let me have anything spicy in my diet. It's as if my dear Biwako is still alive."

Kosuke smiled gently at the mentioning of the Third's late wide. "She was a one of a kind woman, Biwako..."

The room fell silent for a moment. "You still intend to retire when you _retire_, I take it?" Kosuke nodded and Sarutobi sighed with mild exasperation. "In a way, I envy you, but will you not reconsider and take a teaching position rather, Kosuke? You have many things to pass onto the next generation."

Konoha's Strongest Genin shook his head. "I have nothing to teach that others cannot. I will die a shinobi's death, old friend. I will die in service." Hiruzen looked downcast, prompting Kosuke to put down the utensils in his hands and pat Hiruzen on his shoulder. "There is no shame in the way you will die, Sarutobi Hiruzen. You have fought more battles than anyone, you have overcome more obstacles than anyone... you deserve to die in peace, surrounded by your loved ones."

"Thank you for your kind words," Hiruzen bowed his head and Kosuke resumed chopping up vegetables as precise and methodical as always. "Still, I no longer can say I feel like a true shinobi. I feel as though there as still things I can do for the benefit of the next generation."

"Perhaps, in time, your answer will present itself," Kosuke offered what little wisdom he could as he began to chop up onions and added them to orange stew, "But for now, let us eat and talk some more. It has been a long time since we spoke." Kosuke levelled his ladle and filled a bowl of spicy vegetable stew and offered it to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen took the bowl with both hands and took a sip, relishing in the taste and aroma. "As good as ever, Kosuke. Thank you, truly."

"Hehe, perhaps I will share my secret before I die," Kosuke joked with a hum-chuckle. The pair of elderly shinobi continued to sip and slurp from their bowls, making no attempt at any etiquette. They were far too old and far too familiar with one another for such frivolity. "I was approached the other day by Shimura-kun," the Mannen Genin mentioned conversationally.

"Danzō?" Hiruzen frowned at the name. "I thought he gave up on recruiting you." Despite his appear and rank, Kosuke was a highly respected shinobi of exceptional skill. "I take it your refused?"

Kosuke nodded. "Of course."

Hiruzen fell short in his following sentence; he and Kosuke looked to the door as another pair of footsteps resounded from the hallway. The doors slid open, pushed aside carefully as Naruto entered the door. "Naruto-kun."

Naruto lit up at the sight of his surrogate grandfather. "Heya, gramps," he greeted with a broad smile. "I figured I'd come pay you a visit but looks like you've got a visitor. I can come back later."

"No, stay," Hiruzen insisted with a shake of his head. He then gestured to his right. "This is Maruboshi Kosuke, he is my oldest friend. You may have heard of him."

"The Mannen Genin?" Naruto had heard a few stories about Konoha's oldest genin in active service from Hayase. Admittedly, he didn't quite believe how old Kosuke was said to have been, but clearly Kosuke lived up to the "_old as fuck_" part, or so the swordsman had elegantly put it.

"Care for some stew?" Kosuke offered, raising his ladle to another bowl as he poured the broth and vegetables in it. "It is quite tasty."

"I could eat," Naruto pulled a chair from the other side of the spacious bedroom and sat down next to Kosuke. "Thank you Maru-"

"Kosuke is fine."

Naruto took a mouthful of the stew and nearly swallowed it instantly. "Incredible!" he exclaimed with bulging eyes. "This is delicious!"

"There's plenty more, so eat up," Kosuke encouraged.

Naruto gladly indulged on the opportunity, devouring the contents of his bowl in seconds. He was well on his way with his second when he remembered something. For the first time ever, Hiruzen had nothing but free time on his hand. In other words, he had no excuse of being too busy to answer his questions. "Hiruzen-jiji, I've been meaning to ask you something for a long time now."

"Hmm?" Hiruzen frowned slightly, was this one of those rare moments Naruto asked about his parentage? Perhaps rare wasn't the right word, but over the past few years Naruto had shown increasingly less persistence or interest in finding out about his parents. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "You were trained by the Nidaime weren't you?" Hiruzen seemed to be surprised by that but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, I was taught by Tobirama-sama. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering." Naruto rubbed the back of his head somewhat embarrassed. He was never one for history and had often brushed off Hiruzen's attempts to teach him in the past, but here was, mere months after his promotion and he was a changed person. "Could you tell me what he was like? I mean, I've been saying I want to be Hokage some day for years but I don't actually know anything about the Hokage except for you and Tsunade-bachan."

Hiruzen took a deep breath, setting aside his bowl as he looked at Naruto intently. For a moment he could've sworn he was speaking to a fourteen year old Minato; the Yondaime had asked him the very same question in his youth on one of the occasions Jiraiya brought him along. "Tobirama-sensei was an incredibly gifted shinobi, you know that of course," Naruto nodded to this immediately, "But it is not his jutsu I like to define him by, or anyone for that matter." The Sandaime shared a knowing look with Kosuke, who seemed just as interested as Naruto in knowing what the former Hokage thought of his sensei.

"Well?" Naruto prodded after moment; he wasn't the most patient person in the world. That would probably never change about him.

"He was a very shrewd man," Hiruzen decided in the end. "He always had a reason for everything he did, he never allowed his emotions or impulses rule him. Truly, he was amongst the greatest of shinobi, but personality wise, he wasn't what you would call normal."

"How so?" Naruto had to ask.

Hiruzen stroked his beard as he explained, perhaps to himself as much as his surrogate grandson. "Being a shinobi was all Tobirama-sensei cared for. He had no wife or children, nor did he seem to have no interest in ever settling down to have either. His greatest passion was developing ninjutsu and while he exceeded greatly at that, his obsession made him an unsociable person. Tobirama-sensei was always straight to the point; he didn't care much for anything else but being a shinobi."

Naruto frowned, not having expected to hear the Nidaime was such a stoic person; it reminded him too much of Neji's demeanour. "Jiji, he did care for you though, right? You were his student, weren't you? I mean, the Nidaime died sacrificing himself to save his team. You were on that team, weren't you?"

"Tobirama-sensei was certainly capable of affection, but he rarely showed it to anyone. He was much more reserved than Hashirama-sama," Hiruzen explained. "I would like to think Tobirama-sensei sacrificed himself for us because he cared about us, but in all honesty, I don't believe his self-sacrifice was an act of affection."

"Why not? He didn't have to do it, but he did it anyway, how is that not affection?" Naruto had to admit it was somewhat ridiculous for him to defend the Nidaime when he had never met the man, especially against his own student who was practically raised by him.

Hiruzen on the other hand couldn't help but chuckle somewhat. Though less passionate, Minato had more or less raised the same point in the past. "Tobirama-sensei was a shrewd man, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen repeated. "He had long since known I would one day surpass him, he had told me that himself, so it was the logical choice for him to sacrifice himself and take Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force down with him, allowing me to move on, realise my potential and carry on the Will of Fire. It is most likely his sacrifice was an act of pragmatism rather than affection."

"So even in saving your life at the cost of his own, he had a logical motive?" Naruto couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of person someone would have had to be to think that way. "He was a true shinobi, wasn't he?"

"Tobirama-sama was the one that wrote the shinobi codes used to this day by Konoha," Kosuke reminded with a nod, adding to his statement. "So, yes, he truly was a great shinobi," Konoha's oldest genin agreed.

Naruto frowned with confusion. "Wait, what is the Kinkaku Force?"

"The history books in the academy wouldn't have mentioned them, I suppose," said a familiar voice. Naruto, the only one to have not noticed, turned to see Gikan standing in the doorway. "How are you holding up, Hiruzen?"

"That's right, you two are friends, huh?" Naruto remembered.

Gikan sauntered over, pulling another chair and sat down. "So what are you old farts teaching this dimwit?"

"Nice to see you too, gramps." Naruto shook his head at the mad scientist and turned to Hiruzen again. "We didn't learn about the Kinkaku Force in the academy, at least I don't think so. I might have skipped that lesson."

"The Kinkaku Force was Kumogakure's ANBU-counterforce," Kosuke informed helpfully. "They were extremely skilled individuals, highly trained and disciplined. They were perhaps the only force in the world that could withstand our ANBU, the other villages had yet to follow our lead and create their own at the time."

"Did they ever beat us?" He had to ask because he was a patriot and it mattered. "The ANBU are the best of the best, right? They couldn't have been too much trouble."

"Oh, they gave us trouble, alright," Gikan answered with a shake of his head. "You wouldn't believe the damage they did, few as they were. Their teamwork was unmatched and what made it worse was that all of them were incredibly powerful shinobi in their own right. Quite a few of them were S-ranked, meaning any one of them could have been a Kage."

Naruto's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "You're telling me the Nidaime took out an entire team of Kage levelled shinobi on his own? That's impossible!"

"For anyone but the Nidaime," Gikan shrugged, helping himself to the bowl of fruit next to Hiruzen's bed. "He had a specific skill set no one has been able to match since the Yondaime."

"Time-space manipulation jutsu," Hiruzen elaborated before Naruto had to ask. "A very rare and very difficult to perform type of jutsu intimately related to fūinjutsu." Hiruzen decided it would be best not reveal the Nidaime used the Edo Tensei to summon his brother to fight alongside him against the Kinkaku Force. He had already lost a student to the temptations of that technique.

Naruto blinked a few times. "You're telling me the Nidaime could _teleport_?" Saying it out loud made him feel foolish; the notion of it was simply absurd. The closest thing to teleportation jutsu shinobi could use was the Shunshin, and that was high speed movement through the use of chakra, it wasn't even close to actual teleportation.

"Among other things," Hiruzen replied vaguely. "The Yondaime had a similar jutsu, the Hiraishin, you have undoubtedly heard of it," the Sandaime assumed, to which Naruto nodded. "The Nidaime's jutsu inspired Minato-kun to create it. He too was quite shrewd, now that I think of it."

"Minato?" He was too distracted by the name to notice the glances between the elderly men in the room. "That's the Yondaime's name, isn't it?"

"It is indeed."

'Why does it sound so familiar?' He could've sworn he had heard someone else say the name the name before, a long time ago... a _woman_, but for he couldn't remember who. "What was he like?"

"You should ask Jiraiya," Hiruzen advised. "I'm sure he could tell you a great deal more than I could."

"Sure." Jiraiya probably wouldn't mind it one bit telling him of his former student. "What about the Shodai?"

Suddenly Hiruzen burst out laughing, as did Gikan and Kosuke though at a lower volume. "I never thought I'd live to see the day you'd be interested in history, Naruto-kun. Forgive me, but it an extraordinary sight."

"Hey, I'm just trying to cover my bases here," Naruto said defensively. "I need to know what I need to live up to!"

"Then I suppose I should tell you," Hiruzen agreed jokingly.

The remainder of the night was spent much like the lengthy history lessons Naruto suffered in his academy days, only this time it was actually interesting because he was getting detailed accounts from the people that had actually fought during the wars and their sides of the story were free of the censorship that was in place in the academy where they had focused mainly only the effects _post_ wartime which was incredibly boring in comparison to the gritty tales the elderly shinobi had to offer. Naruto particularly learned a great deal of the First Shinobi World War, in which Hiruzen had been about his age when it started, already a jōnin (much to Naruto's envy) at the age of fourteen, and a Kage by the time the war came to an end. They even told him about supposedly classified mission and operations that took place, old wartime tactics they used in the field and gruesome injuries they and their comrades sustained, or at least Kosuke and Hiruzen did. Gikan admitted he was never much of a fighter, but that his genius intellect was very much welcomed in the weapons development department. And Naruto had a lot of questions about seemingly everything and everyone; the old men indulged him, enjoying the opportunity for nostalgia. All in all, it was an incredibly interesting night Naruto would never forget.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure Outskirts)

It was nightfall by the time the duo arrived within considerable distance of Konoha's gate. The skies were cloudless and a dark shade of indigo beautifully accentuated by the stars; a calm, soothing breeze scattered fallen leafs. The sensor barrier, visible only to those with dōjutsu, stretched out for miles in an immense sphere around the Hidden Leaf village's centre, designed to alert the Konoha Barrier Team in the case of an attack. Itachi came to a stop on the dirt road and turned to his partner who stopped next to him. "The barrier is approximately thirty feet away from us," the Sharingan-user informed. He didn't need his Sharingan to know that though, his time in ANBU had educated him on the tiniest details of the barrier.

"This barrier ninjutsu," Kisame looked to his younger companion. "I don't suppose I can just disable it with Samehada, huh?"

Itachi shook his head. "The barrier will sense any and all disturbances, we cannot simply disable it, we can only bypass it if we want to move undetected." His eyes shifted to the massive, bandage-wrapped sword resting on Kisame's shoulder. "Samehada must not absorb _any_ chakra from the barrier."

"Samehada won't be a problem," the shark-man assured casually. "It's gotten rather picky with the chakra it absorbs these days. In fact, it's been begging me to let it have some of yours," he added jokingly.

"That is disturbing," Itachi noted as he took a few steps closer to the barrier and his Sharingan eyes began to spin ominously. "Once we break past the barrier, you make certain you follow my lead precisely," he instructed his blue-skinned partner.

-ooo-

(The Next Day)

Kakashi held his orange book aloft as he stood in the middle of the clearing, lazily glancing from Naruto to Sasuke as the two looked slid in their fighting stances. "Do I have to go over the rules again?" Kakashi stifled a yawn as he asked.

"No, I got it," Naruto replied.

Sasuke scowled. "Let us fight already." He was wearing his all-black combat attire from the Chūnin Exams.

Kakashi frowned at his genin student. "This isn't real a fight, Sasuke. This is simply a friendly match between two _comrades_." Casual appearance aside, Kakashi was rather apprehensive of letting these two fight. It had been two weeks since he offered to continue training Naruto, but in between missions and scheduling, there had yet been an opportunity for these two to actually fight. The more time passed, the tenser it got between his students, and thus Kakashi had no choice but to finally allow it. The way things were headed, they were bound to fight this one out, with or without his supervision.

"On that note," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and sweat-dropped as he glanced over his shoulder to the mass of shinobi gathering. "Exactly why are there so many people here? Naruto...?" The scarecrow looked to his blond student.

Naruto gave Kakashi an impudent look. "Don't look at me! Why would you even assume I would do anything so juvenile as to turn this into a spectator sport for everyone to see – oh, right, no, I totally get it... still offended though."

"Noted," Kakashi responded dryly.

"Hn, I don't care about these people. If they want to see me beat you with their own eyes, then let them," Sasuke smirked cockily.

Naruto had already turned to the still gathering audience, squinting his eyes moronically. "Well, what do you know, everyone's here."

"Don't ignore me, idiot!" Sasuke demanded.

Kakashi let out a sigh and shook his head, glancing once more to the audience. From the looks of it, people were taking bets. "I wonder what the odds are," the scarecrow mused under his breath. The jōnin knew just how much Sasuke had improved since the chūnin exam, but he could only guess the extent of Naruto's abilities. Jiraiya had merely hinted at how much the jinchūriki had improved so he didn't quite know what to expect. "Alright, just to make sure, we'll go over the rules again."

Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously groaned at that.

...

Amongst the crowd, Sakura glared daggers at Ino, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself. "Ino-buta, why did you have to be such a gossip? I told you about this to make conversation, I didn't tell you so you could go ahead and tell everyone else!"

"Oh, relax!" Ino waved away her ire dismissively. "You know how quick word travels around here."

"Especially when you're the one spreading it," Sakura hissed accusingly. "Now Kakashi-sensei is going to be angry at me and Sasuke-kun... he hates crowds!"

"Who cares?" Kiba joined in loudly, to which Akamaru yelped in agreement. "Naruto's going to get his ass kicked. I'm sure this something everyone wants to see, right?"

"It will be an interesting match, that is certain," Shino added in his usual monotone voice. "Who will win, I do not know."

Sakura let out a hopeless sigh as Team Gai and the rest of the genin started to join in on the discussions. There was no way in which this could end up well. The loser of this match would undoubtedly be humiliated and hate her for making it public it, unintentionally or not. And not to forget Kakashi's punishment for all of this... "I hate you, Ino-buta!"

"Lighten up!" Ino insisted with an irritatingly carefree pat on the shoulder.

"I got two hundred ryō on Uchiha," one of the adults, a chūnin from the looks of it, called. His bet was immediately followed by similar calls. "Yeah, me too. I got three hundred on Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Actually, I'm thinking of betting on Uzumaki, I've heard some good things about him," one chūnin said to his friend.

"Are you crazy? That's a sucker's bet."

"Well, he did beat that Hyūga kid..."

"Yo, Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru greeted his former sensei as the other jōnin supervisors joined their students.

"Lee!" Sakura lit up at the sight of wheelchair-bound Lee being pushed by Gai. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since Naruto's party."

"I have been going through rehabilitation thanks to Hokage-sama," Lee replied with an excited fist pump. "The doctors told me I was unlikely to ever walk again but... but Naruto-kun managed to convince Hokage-sama to personally examine me and she is optimistic." The Azure Beast of Konoha promptly burst out into happy tears. "I am truly grateful to Naruto-kun!"

"We both are, my adorable student!" Gai joined in with matching tears of happiness.

Neji swiftly moved away from the two with a disgusted expression. Tenten sighed and shook her head. "Here we go again... They can't mention Naruto or Hokage-sama without doing that."

"Naruto did that?" Sakura could hardly believe it, she had heard rumours her former teammate had been involved in the retrieval of Tsunade, but this pretty much confirmed it. "That's great, I'm happy for you, Lee."

"Shikamaru, how good are Naruto's odds?" Asuma asked his former student. The jōnin reached into his pocket and took out a packet of cigarettes, but one glance from Kurenai made him stuff it pack into his pocket with a sigh. "Can't be that good, can they? Kakashi's been training Sasuke personally for a while now."

Shikamaru took his sweet time picking his ear with his pinkie and yawned. "I'd say they're about even," he said to the collective shock of everyone nearby.

"Are you serious?" Asuma rarely doubted his former student on anything.

Kiba clenched his fist, digging his nails into the palm of his hands. "Tche! There's no way he can be that strong."

"I already told you how pointless this argument is," Shikamaru replied, glancing at the other genin for a moment. "Whose bright idea was it to spread the word anyway?" Almost everyone looked to Ino, prompting Shikamaru to sigh. "How surprising."

"Hey! At least we're all having a good time," Ino held firm with ill found indignation.

"Rei-san, how have you been?"

Shikamaru looked over to Hinata and saw her conversing with the Rei whilst Hayase stared shamelessly at Anko bouncing around as she gathered money for the bets. "Didn't figure you two would be here," Shikamaru greeted his teammates.

"Came to support your boyfriend? How sweet," Ino chirped.

"He doesn't need my support," Rei replied firmly with a cold stare aimed at the younger kunoichi. "But yes."

"Why is that girl?" a nearby jōnin asked. "What are you doing with _that_ boy anyway? Your parents must be ashamed."

"Oi," Asuma said warningly, to which the jōnin responded with glaring at Asuma before stalking off.

"What was that all about?" Shikamaru asked Asuma, giving him a look his sensei knew all too well.

"Nothing," Kurenai interjected. "Uzumaki must have pulled a prank on him once."

"Maybe, but why would he be so-"

"You were saying, Rei-san?" Gai interrupted pointedly, addressing Rei to change the subject.

Shikamaru picked up on the glances between the jōnin supervisors. 'Am I missing something? There's definitely going on.'

"While I obviously support Naruto, he won't need it." Rei stated bluntly.

Ino glared at the older kunoichi for the remark. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Rei answered simply.

"Why is that, Nakamura-san?" Sakura tried diplomatically.

"Because there will be no winner," Iruka answered as he joined the group.

"No winner, huh?" Asuma repeated, to which Iruka nodded confidently. "Makes sense," the chain-smoking jōnin agreed easily.

"How does that make sense?" Kiba asked, lost on the implications between the senior shinobi.

"Just watch and see for yourself," Kurenai told her student. "They're about to begin."

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Sasuke)

Kakashi slid the orange book in his pouch and looked left and right to both fighters, resigning to the fact it was out of his hands now. "OK then, I'll ask one last time, are you ready?" Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded, not having once let up their fighting stances. Kakashi had to admit, even he didn't know what to expect from this match; in the past Sasuke had always been several steps ahead of Naruto, but he had changed, both of his students had.

Sasuke was exceedingly fast and trained in the basics of Gai's Strong Fist style, which complimented his speed with powerful blows. While Sasuke was incapable of using the advanced techniques of the Strong Fist, which was made for taijutsu specialists trained to withstand the extreme bodily trauma, the genin brought in elements of the Uchiha Clan's Intercepting Fist **(1)**, a fighting style centred on the Sharingan and based on interception, neutralisation and precise retaliatory blows. Sasuke took the Strong Fist and Intercepting and combined them to mould them into his own new fighting style: the Intercepting Strong Fist. This new taijutsu style focused on speed and power much like Strong Fist but retained the elements of the Intercepting Fist. The Strong Fist was all about offensive and the Intercepting Fist about the defence, the Intercepting Strong Fist allowed both, but could only work with the Sharingan activated, thus limiting the time it could be used.

'Naruto will have to avoid confronting him in taijutsu,' Kakashi thought with a glance to the blond, whose taijutsu was less impressive.

Naruto's taijutsu wasn't style based in any sense. He used some of the academy taught taijutsu when it suited it him, but generally went with whatever the situation required, be it boxing, grappling moves, powerful kicks or bastardized Strong Fist moves. To the untrained eye, it would seem Naruto was an uncontrolled brawler, but in reality, his fighting was more controlled than it appeared to be. It made up for grace and speed with power and diversity. Adding to that, unlike Sasuke, Naruto used at least two blades, a kodachi and tantō, of which he only carried the latter on him at the moment. With enough proficiency, Kakashi believed kenjutsu could very well balance the scales.

When it came down to ninjutsu, Kakashi would have given the favour to Sasuke due to his Sharingan but with all the training Naruto had gotten under Jiraiya, Kakashi was hesitant to make that assumption, thus it remained a wild card. Genjutsu was unlikely to be even thought off by either of them, given the fact they both heavily relied on ninjutsu and taijutsu, but if it did come down to it, unless Jiraiya taught Naruto how to break genjutsu, he was in trouble. All in all, the two were evenly matched.

Kakashi looked once more at both teenagers before making a chopping hand motion and jumping back several feet. "Begin!"

No sooner had he said it, did the fighting begin. Sasuke didn't waste any time and rushed at Naruto with greater speed than that he had shown during his match with Gaara. Naruto had no illusions about his odds in taijutsu and decided to stick with countering moves and ducked under Sasuke's punch and retaliated with a sweeping kick Sasuke jumped over. "Too slow." Sasuke smirked as he disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto.

"Shunshin?" Naruto exclaimed in surprise as he haphazardly threw up his shin to block a bone-shivering kick. Refusing to let out a yelp of pain, Naruto went with the momentum and rolled on his shoulder, and got to his feet quickly, aiming a high kick against Sasuke's guard, a mistake as Sasuke smirked knowingly and brought up his free hand in a fist. Naruto realised his error just in time to hold up a cross-shaped guard and took the brunt of the powerful punch as he flew backwards, flipping mid-air and coming to a skidding crouch. 'Fuck, that hurt!' he gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the stinging sensation in his forearms. 'His taijutsu is even better than when he fought Gaara. And he's so fast! I can't let him dictate the pace or I'm done...'

Sasuke took a moment to pause and smirk arrogantly in the blonde's direction. A second later he was off once again in a burst of speed, closing in on Naruto in the blink of an eye, only to disappear again. "You cannot keep up with me with eyes like yours, Naruto."

"Showy bastard," Naruto growled with a glance to the crowd. He wasn't about to get his ass kicked in front of all of these people, there was no way he would let that happen.

...

"Go, Sasuke-kun!" Ino punched the air as she cried with excitement.

Kiba couldn't be more pleased, sneering at the sight of Naruto as he struggled to keep up. "I told you he didn't stand a chance. Luck won't save him this time!" Akamaru barked in agreement as his master rubbed a nose under his finger. "This will be over in seconds." None of the jōnin sensei made any comments though they had had to admit it didn't look to good.

Shikamaru wasn't as convinced. "Don't count him out just yet," the perpetually lazy genius yawned.

"I wouldn't do that either," Hayase agreed to which Rei gave a nod. "Naruto's a lot stronger than he looks. Besides, he hasn't even used his ninjutsu yet."

"I agree," Neji concurred to general astonishment. "Uzumaki has... surprising tenacity even when the odds are stacked against him."

"Speaking from personal experience?" Kiba jabbed mockingly with a sneer.

Neji glared at Inuzuka with unveiled disgust and ire. "Watch your tongue, dog," the Hyūga threatened.

Kiba flinched as soon as Neji made eye contact; even Akamaru whimpered. "Cut it out," Asuma commanded with a thoughtful glance to Kurenai.

...

Matching Sasuke in taijutsu was definitely out of the question, Naruto was certain of that a minute into their friendly match. Sasuke was faster, stronger and his form was much better; while he had yet to land a single solid blow, Sasuke had got in over a dozen, picking his defences apart with ease. "Damn it," Naruto gritted his teeth, lashing out with an impulsive kick.

Sasuke jumped over it effortlessly, appearing as though he could fly with the altitude he was reaching. "This is what would have happened if you face me during the Chūnin Exams," he claimed arrogantly.

"Yeah, and exactly how were you going to get past Gaara to do that?" Naruto shot back as he slid into a defensive stance. "At least I beat my opponent before I did your work for you, dick!" It felt good to get that one off his chest, and it felt even better to see the Uchiha's reaction to it.

Sasuke clenched his fists at the remark, raising them with an angry snarl. "You're going to regret that." In an instant, he vanished by the use of Shunshin and reappeared next to him and surged forward in a fluid motion, but Naruto saw him coming this time.

In his anger, Sasuke hadn't given his plan of attack any thought, and rather than attacking from blindsides, he charged head on, essentially surrendering himself to Naruto's mercy, who capitalised on the opportunity by kicking the earth, channelling his chakra to raise a bump in front of Sasuke's feet to trip him up and lose his balance. As a result, Sasuke literally dropped on Naruto's fist, who turned his heels and launched the Uchiha with incredible force backwards.

Sasuke bounded painfully across the earth but managed to regain a foothold, skidding back several feet as he came to a stop sporting a bruise on his cheek. "Tche!" Angered, he resumed his previous strategy and dashed in a zigzagging pattern, not once allowing himself to become predictable as he darted around the blond. "Come at me and fight, coward," Naruto taunted as he struggled to keep up with his former teammate's speed.

"Shut up!" Sasuked charged at Naruto, who turned around, going on the defensive as they exchanged blows. "I haven't even warmed up yet," he claimed as he suddenly ducked and turned with Naruto's fist, throwing him over his shoulder and into the ground. The wind knocked out of him, it took Naruto a moment to regain his bearings and by the time he did, Sasuke had already jammed his knee on his left elbow and tried to pin him down as he drove his fist downwards in a punishing blow. Naruto kicked up his leg for to shift his weight and shoved away Sasuke's wrist and proceeded to try a half-scissor strangle hold. The two continued to struggle as they grappled for control; Naruto seemed to be directing the clinch as they got up, he forced Sasuke in a neck hold and repeatedly battered the Uchiha's forearms with his knees. After the forth or so blow, Sasuke gripped onto Naruto's leg and pushed him back with his shoulders, allowing him space to hurl the blond into the sky: the perfect setup for his Shishi Rendan.

Catching onto what Sasuke was trying to do; Naruto spun in the air and directed both palms to his side as the raven-haired genin appeared behind him, channelling a wave of chakra. "Reppūshō!" Two thick gusts of air blasted from his palms and launched Naruto off Sasuke's course.

"Interesting," Kakashi commented from the sidelines. "Using air streams for propulsion..."

"You can fly?" Sasuke bit out as Naruto settled about twenty feet above the ground.

Naruto released the jutsu and touched down lightly, shaking his head. "At this point it's more like levitate," he clarified. "I haven't gotten it down to the point I want it but it's still pretty cool, huh? I call it the Suishin Shō. It takes a crap ton of chakra though since my chakra control isn't all that great so I can't really use it often," he admitted offhandedly with a shrug as he resumed his fighting stance. "Don't look so surprised, Sasu-chan. You haven't seen anything yet."

"Neither have you," Sasuke shot back, reaching for his kunai holsters on both thighs. Sasuke chucked the kunai at Naruto in rapid succession, aiming them around his feet first and then later at his actual body to limit the areas the blond could mobilise to.

As the projectiles soared his way, Naruto reached for his tantō with one hand, holding it in reverse-grip as he deftly deflected the blades. "Get real! As if something like would work against-" Naruto caught onto his error just as he deflected the last kunai and noticed the ninja wire tightening around him.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke flashed through a string of hand seals and spat a massive fireball. Kakashi looked as though he was about to intervene but relaxed his posture once Naruto sank through the ground seamlessly, and reappeared next to Sasuke.

Naruto thrust forward his free hand as he emerged from the ground, directing a chakra-laden wind gust. Over the past few months he had mastered the Reppūshō to such a degree it was truly on another level. His output was more than enough to _blast_ Sasuke off his feet and send him hurtling through the air only to stop as he bounced painfully off a tree. Naruto went through another string of hand seals and took in a mouthful of air to follow up on his counterattack momentum. "Doryū Taiga!" He spat out a body of instantly hardening mud that enveloped Sasuke against the tree in an effort to settle the spar quickly, however it was for naught as Sasuke used a Kawarimi to switch with a fallen tree branch. Naruto gritted his teeth, unable to resist the creeping smile coming to his face. _He was having fun._

Sasuke on the other hand was furious. He was displeased with the fact Naruto had all but overtaken him in their match. "Katon," Sasuke began as he went through a set of hand seals which alarmed Kakashi enough to warrant a reminder.

"Remember, easy on the ninjutsu. You're not out to kill each other- Sasuke!"

Sasuke ignored Kakashi and spat a jet of fire at Naruto who, recognising the hand seals, had already bolted for the lake and dived inside with a chakra-enhanced leap. "Ryūka no Jutsu!" As the fire came bearing down, Naruto finished the last seal of his jutsu and erected a massive wave of water around him, mentally patting himself on the shoulder for having taken the time to master the Water Encampment Wall technique as it easily reached thirty feet above surface. "Suiton: Suijinheki!"

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief as the water and fire jutsu collided, causing a thick volume of steam to obscure his view. 'Not bad, Naruto... Using the steam to mask your movements,' Kakashi thought as he shoved his headband up.

Sharingan eyes spinning wildly, Sasuke scanned the lake for any movements but found none. "Tche!" Gritting his teeth, the Uchiha decided against going into the fog. Naruto was far too unpredictable for him to risk it, leaving him with no choice other than to wait it out.

...

"O- oi, that Uzumaki brat just flew, didn't he?"

"I...I can't believe it!" Kiba clenched his fists tightly as he eyed the on-going fight between his former classmates. "I knew Sasuke was on a level above us but Naruto... he's just as strong!" The ninken-user turned to Shikamaru and the other members of Team 312 present. "How the hell could he have improved this much? He barely beat me last time."

Hayase shrugged, casually leaning his head back into his hands. "Don't ask me, I didn't know him before he was assigned to our team. None of us did, except for Shikamaru." The chūnin swordsman looked to Shikamaru as though he expected the Kagemane-user to have the answer.

"I don't know either," Shikamaru said to everyone's disappointment as he continued to pick his ear. "You'll just have to ask him."

"Hey, I made up my mind, I got two hundred on Uzumaki!"

"Ye- Yeah, me too."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Shikamaru spotted Rei smiling to herself; shaking his head with a smile of his own he redirected his attention to the fight.

...

Naruto remained several feet under surface, holdings his breath and arms crossed. 'Sasuke's really going for it. I can't afford to hold back anymore,' Naruto decided with a frown. If Sasuke wasn't going to pull any punches, then why should he? 'Suishin Shō!' Naruto thrust his palms towards his feet, propelling himself out of the water like a torpedo. 'By now the steam should have blown over...'

The moment Naruto erupted out of the lake, he was forced to redirect his wind propulsion and adopt evasive manoeuvres as Sasuke released a hail of tiny fireballs, vaulting and cartwheeling alongside Naruto's direction. "Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Naruto could already feel the strain of the Propulsion Palm on his wrists. The chakra was more or less a nonissue when using his original technique for evasive action, but it sure did smart, of course he wasn't about to show it.

Naruto relinquished the Suishin Shō on one hand to eject two shuriken from his ninja-wire set up attached to his wrist and sliced the air as he flung the projectiles, lodging them mere centimetres from Sasuke's foot. Though they missed their target, Sasuke was distracted for a split second nonetheless, allowing Naruto a chance to touch down and ready himself to submerge into the ground when necessary, though it wasn't as Sasuke realised his loss of momentum and ceased his hail of fireballs, panting but smirking confidently nonetheless.

"Running out of steam, Sasu?" Naruto taunted. His own chakra reserve was so vast he hadn't even begun to tap into it, whereas Sasuke needed a breather. If he wanted to, he could simply outlast the Uchiha for as long as it took, but he didn't want to do that. He wanted to the beat the arrogant number one rookie with his own two hands and he wanted to do it facing him head on. "Doryū Taiga!" Naruto shot of another sizable volume of mud, a futile attempt as Sasuke dodged it effortlessly with his superior speed.

"You've improved, but you're still not on my level," Sasuke stated confidently. He even had to nerve to assume Rock Lee's pose, resting one arm on his back and extending his hand with the other. "Kakashi has been training me nonstop since you left. Every day I've grown stronger... There is no way you can win."

"You're full of shit." Naruto's voice took a steely tone of barely restrained anger; he glared at the Uchiha prodigy.

"What?" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto clenched his fist momentarily and pointed angrily at him. "You actually still think you're better than me? Don't be ridiculous. You _used to be_ better than me, Sasuke, I'll be the first admit to that, but that was then and this is now. I'm not the same guy I used to be, so don't _look_ at me as if you're not even trying. Whatever you might think of yourself, you're not in a league of your own, not anymore."

Sasuke sneered at Naruto. "I'm going to show you exactly just how much beneath me you are!" Sasuke burst forward with an unprecedented surge of speed, throwing back his arm as collided with the blond.

Much to his immense surprise, Naruto managed to keep up, more out of reflex than anything. The blond ducked under Sasuke's punch and drove his fist into his former's teammate's gut with enough force to cause him to lurch over and gasp as the air left his lungs. Naruto wasn't done yet, and he went through several back flips to gain distance only to go through set of motions in which he butterfly twist, extending both his palms directly at Sasuke. "Reppūshō!"

The amount of chakra he channelled into the jutsu insured he conjured an incredibly powerful gust of wind that _rocketed _Sasuke off his feet and into a tree with enough force he spat blood upon impact. On the side lines Kakashi tensed ever so slightly, though it didn't look like he was going to intervene as Sasuke slid down the bark.

"Beneath you, huh?" Naruto snarled at his former teammate. "_Not anymore_, Sasuke."

Tasting the coppery taste of blood, Sasuke picked himself and wiped the blood off his mouth. "You're nothing!" Sasuke rushed forward to engage the blond in taijutsu, as angry as he was, he still could think logically. As they exchanged blows, Sasuke got in considerably more than Naruto, but the blond took the pain without so much as grunt. Raw anger consumed them as they smashed their fists on one another, refusing to let the pain get in the way of this.

Kakashi subconsciously clenched his fist tightly as the sight of his students going at it. It the look in their eyes was anything to go by, they _hated_ each other. Something had changed between them. Naruto once regarded Sasuke as a rival, someone he wanted to be like, to surpass, but so much had changed in the past few months, he had grown much stronger and versatile in general and while Sasuke had certainly improved, it wasn't at the same speed his rival had. 'If you could only get over your inferiority and superiority complexes, Sasuke, you could be much more than this.'

Sasuke made a circling dash in an attempt to catch the blond on his side, but Naruto was on him and followed the raven-haired genin's movements with his ninjutsu rather than try to compete with speed he know he didn't possess. "Mizurappa no Jutsu!" The jet off water crashed into Sasuke's legs, flooring him and hurling him backwards several feet, although Sasuke recovered gracefully, bounding from the ground with a single handspring and settled into a crouch, his hands already ending on the tiger seal for another fire jutsu. "Hōsenka no Jutsu!"

Naruto jerked aside his head as one ball of fire narrowly streaked past his head, singeing a few stray hairs before it went out against a tree, covering it in soot; he gritted his teeth as he backpedalled, darting left and right as he dodged the rapid onslaught of fireballs continued. 'He's starting to lose his edge,' he noticed as the Uchiha's accuracy began to drop. He tested his theory by aiming a lone kunai at Sasuke, who dodged it slower than anticipated. "You're slowing down, Sasu-chan," Naruto taunted with a provocative grin. "What's the matter, are those pretty eyes putting too much of a drain on your chakra?" Though all he got from the jab was a scowl, Naruto could tell he struck a chord. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Twenty Naruto-clones appeared with puffs of smoke, each of them wearing the same identical grin.

Sasuke tensed up noticeably, his eyes widening slightly as though he had forgotten about that particular jutsu. 'That bastard, he's not even going to attack,' Sasuke hissed as the clones attacked whilst Naruto remained standing where he was, crossing his arms, seemingly implying he wasn't good enough to face head on. 'I'll show him!' Sasuke began to go through a particular string of hand seals that caused Kakashi's visible eye to widen.

"Sasuke, no!"

"Chidori!"

...

The crowd went wild at the sight of the ball of lightning; many of them had hoped to see it used. "There it is, Hatake Kakashi's original technique!"

"It's over for Uzumaki now!"

"Oi, oi! This is getting serious," Asuma mentioned to the other jōnin. "What is Kakashi doing?" The chain-smoking jōnin reached for his packet of cigarettes, annoying the look Kurenai was giving him.

Gai frowned in the direction of the fight but shook his head at the Sandaime's son. "It is clear these youthful youngsters have bad blood between them. My eternal rival realises it is best to let them fight it out now under his supervision, rather than let their youthful passion escalate any further." The taijutsu master gave a shiny, toothy smile in Lee and Neji's direction. "It wasn't too long ago when my cute students fought it out like this... but," he said as his tone turned graver, "Admittedly, it wasn't quite as serious as this."

Sakura glanced in Rei's direction feeling somewhat awkward. Though she kept it to herself, Sakura felt guilty for looking forward to this spar between her crush and former teammate. She cheered for Sasuke in the silent confines of her mind to avoid offending Rei, but now the spar turned into an all out fight, the rosette felt ashamed. How could she cheer for either to win? Sasuke was her crush, but Naruto was her _friend_, one that had saved her life at that...

"Asuma-sensei..." Shikamaru looked to the bearded jōnin as the crowd got rowdier. "Kakashi-sensei looks like he'll need your help in a minute."

Asuma lit his cigarette and let out a puff of smoke. "Looks like it. Let's go, Gai."

"What are you talking about, Shika?" Kiba looked to the shadow-user, unable to grasp what was going on.

Rei answered before the Nara could. "This is about to get out of hand."

...

Sasuke drove the Chidori through the ground as he charged ahead, easily dispatching the Shadow Clones as he streaked past them; evidently his mastery of the technique had improved by leaps and bounds as he no longer needed to make direct contact to cause damage. "NARUTO!"

"Two can play at that game!" Naruto roared as he held out his right hand and charged his chakra; it became visibly as it formed into a sphere in his hand. He charged ahead, readying his Rasengan as they were about to collide. "SASUKE!

Just at the two neared each other and thrust forward their respective technique, Kakashi, Gai and Asuma appeared between them; Naruto's eyes widened. What were they doing? He couldn't possibly stop his attack now... 'Shit! I can't stop myself...!'

Fortunately Gai could; the jōnin reached out with speed far beyond that of the blond chūnin, gripping his Rasengan-brandishing wrist as he turned and hurled Naruto in a completely different direction with ease. Simultaneously, Kakashi redirected Sasuke's attack in the opposite direction.

"Gah!" Naruto crashed through several trees, shredding through them as he used the Rasengan to minimise damage. He finally came to a stop after seventh or so tree and picked himself up, a furious expression on his face. "What the fuck was that?" Naruto flew upwards with Propulsion Palms, unaware of the fact the adrenaline masked the strain in his wrists. He cancelled the jutsu mid-air and landed in crouch to see Sasuke pick himself up from the rubble he created; if he hadn't been so pissed he would've been quite pleased Sasuke pierced only five trees with his Chidori. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"It was a mistake letting you fighting after all," Kakashi said as he looked at Sasuke with disappointment, giving Naruto the same look as he turned to him. "You went from a friendly match to a serious one, just like I feared."

Naruto clenched his fists, he so badly wanted to say voice his indignation, give reasons why it wasn't his fault, but he knew it would just make him look petulant, just like the way he used to be. "I'm out of here," turned to head into the forest but found Asuma in his way. Strangely enough the jōnin gave him a look of _understanding_ rather than disappointment.

"It's fine, Asuma. Let him go cool off," Kakashi told his colleague.

Asuma stepped aside and Naruto continued his stride without another word. He heard Sasuke shout "Let me go!" at Kakashi and other voices, but he was too angry to care to look as he stomped off. "Fuck this," Naruto charged an immense wave of chakra into his palms and blasted away like a jet, disappearing over the tree tops.

"Kakashi, want me to go after him?" Gai offered.

"I'll deal with him later," Kakashi followed his flight till it left his sight; still somewhat surprised he didn't get any arguments. The Copy Nin turned to Sasuke, for whom he reserved his greatest disappointment. "I taught you that technique to protect your comrades, not to use it against them." He released the genin who simply glared at him and said nothing. "When will you learn this anger of yours is your greatest enemy?"

Sasuke could only glare at his sensei whilst doing his best to ignore the stinging sensation in his shoulder. A part of him had wanted the Evil Sealing Method to fail; he longed to feel that surge of power, that euphoric rush he got from using Orochimaru's cursed seal.

...

"That was intense." Hayase whistled, breaking the silent tension.

Kiba swallowed thickly, still in disbelief of what he had just seen. "Those two, they were trying to kill each other."

"Tcha! Who knew Naruto was that strong?" Ino shared the dog-user's astonishment.

Shikamaru frowned at Ino, clearly irritated by her actions. "You do know this probably wouldn't have been as bad if you hadn't blabbed, right?"

"How so?" Ino demanded just as irate as her former teammate.

"You added the pressure of public humiliation because you couldn't keep your mouth shut," Shikamaru pointed out. "Consciously or not, Naruto and Sasuke were aware of that and were fighting more seriously because of it." Sometimes even Shikamaru lost his cool; Ino's careless tended to be what set him off. "As if you weren't troublesome enough."

"Hey, lay off of her," Kiba shouted at him with a raised fist and a snarl. "How was she supposed to know?"

"Enough!" Kurenai intervened with finality. "What's done is done."

Asuma approached the group as he lit another cigarette much to the genjutsu mistress' annoyance. "Looks like you were right," the jōnin said looking to Iruka. The chūnin academy instructor didn't look too happy about it though. "What possessed Sasuke to use that jutsu?"

"He's been focused so much on his training lately, I guess he couldn't cope with the fact Naruto was a lot better than he expected," Sakura offered, knowing her insight on the matter wasn't an excuse, but trying anyway. "I'm not saying he was justified-"

"Good, because he isn't," Rei asserted with level-headed calmness. She was remarkably passive for someone who had just seen their boyfriend nearly get killed. "And neither is Naruto," she added before anyone could comment. "They were both being stupid, taking a friendly match this seriously."

"You're right, Nakamura-san," Sakura agreed, wanting to be as mature as Rei was about the situation. "I just hope this doesn't ruin their friendship." Rei nodded in her direction in a seemingly approving fashion, though she didn't voice it.

Kiba looked around the group with a question of his own. "What was that technique Naruto used anyway? I've never seen anything like it."

"That would be the Rasengan," Asuma clarified as he exhaled a large puff of smoke.

Kurenai looked at her lover with a shocked look on her face. "You're not serious?" Konoha's genjutsu mistress was rarely surprised by anything, and thus the junior shinobi looked to Asuma for answers.

"The Rasengan..." Sakura said aloud as she recognised the name. A moment later her eyes widened as she remembered where she had heard of the name. "That was the Yondaime's signature jutsu, wasn't it, Asuma-sensei?"

"That's right," Asuma confirmed, somewhat impressed with the rosette's knowledge. "How Naruto got his hands on that one though..."

Hayase turned to Rei as she walked off while the others began to talk amongst themselves. "Where are you going?" the swordsman asked her.

"I'm going to check on him," Rei answered without breaking her stride. "It's best I go alone, I don't think he wants to be around another crowd now," she added as Hayase was about to follow.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure Riverbank)

Itachi came to a stop as his partner turned into the direction of concealed ANBU operatives. "Right on time, Itachi-san," Kisame spoke at a low tone so only his partner could hear. "I believe it's time to get started?" The swordsman gripped his sword's hilt tightly, a feral grin on his blue, finned features.

"It would appear so, Kisame," Itachi agreed as he felt his partner begin to unleash his monstrous chakra. 'As expected, they immediately came to investigate our chakra signatures.' Itachi held onto his straw hat just as Kisame swung his massive sword with enough force to shift the winds.

"Come on out!" Kisame challenged openly with a boisterous laugh. The former swordsman of the Hidden Mist assumed a lax stance, resting Samehada on his shoulder but no less ready to do combat. Half a dozen ANBU dropped out of the surrounding trees, crouching in circle around them. "Only six of you? I'm insulted!" None of the ANBU operatives gave any response to his obvious taunt; they were far too professional for such foolish acts.

"Do not get carried away, Kisame," Itachi reminded the former member of Kiri's Seven Ninja Swordsmen as he assumed a similarly lax fighting stance. "And do not underestimate Konoha's teamwork, they are notorious for it for a reason."

-ooo-

(With Naruto)

_CRACK!_

Naruto scowled as he withdrew his fist from the tree he had just driven his fist through, he had probably broken a bone or two in his hand but he didn't care, it would heal within seconds anyway. "Damn it!" He exhaled heavily as he felt the adrenaline rush leave his body. 'Damn Sasuke...' Oh, how he wished Kakashi hadn't interrupted their fight, he would have shown that arrogant asshole exactly who was beneath who.

'I need to calm down, things just got out of hand,' he realised as he forced himself to look at it logically. There was no way Sasuke actually intended to kill him, they were friends, or at least they used to be. He didn't quite know where they stood now, something had obviously broken between them. Sasuke's complexes definitely had something to with it, that much was obvious. "See you at the top, huh?" He began to laugh for no particular reason; maybe it was the ridiculousness of it all or maybe it was because he knew why things had gotten so out of hand: he had surpassed Uchiha Sasuke.

For as long as he could remember, ever since his first year in the academy, Sasuke was his goal, the one guy he wanted to overcome more than anyone. The prodigy of the famous Uchiha Clan, the very same who didn't even look at him the first time they fought... Why did it make him feel like he had already reached his peak by surpassing Sasuke, and why did it make him feel so weak and angry?

Naruto let out a deep sigh and sat down, leant against a tree and enjoying the coolness of the shade it provided. "Tche!" A stinging sensation continued to pulse from his wrists; he peeled off his plated, fingerless gloves and found his wrists to be red and bleeding. The Shuishin Shō put too much strain on his hands and wrists with the constant output of chakra. The pain was manageable but his hands were shaking so badly he could barely make a fist. "Fuck," he swore as pulled the gloves back on as tenderly as possible.

There was a rustle to his right and he tensed for a moment, reaching for a kunai. "Relax, it's just me," Rei said as she pushed past the brush and approached him. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better now you're here," Naruto made some space for her to sit. "I shouldn't have gotten carried away like that," he said as soon as sat down next to him.

Rei looked at him and nodded. "I agree," she said bluntly. "You shouldn't have gotten carried away like that," his expression fell somewhat, "But, I can't say I blame you," she added with something resembling a smile.

"I can't believe I nearly used the Rasengan on him..." Naruto held his head with such disappointment in himself and an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. How would Jiraiya react if he found out he tried to use the Yondaime's technique to cause harm to a Konoha shinobi? "Jiraiya's going to kill me."

Rei playfully nudged him in the side with her elbow to uplift his spirits. "I do believe it was justified, given the fact your opponent tried to stab you with Sharingan no Kakashi's assassination jutsu."

"Maybe," Naruto shrugged, though he knew it would be a futile point to raise with the Toad Sage. Jiraiya wasn't big on excuses, but for her sake he kept that to himself. "I'm surprised you showed up to watch," he admitted. "Don't get me wrong, it was a hell of a motivator not to lose, but I'm surprised nonetheless."

Rei shrugged with a small smile gracing her features. "As juvenile as this was, I wanted to support you."

"You were probably the only one," Naruto grumbled under his breath, his mood turning foul once again. "All those people, they came to watch me get burned, didn't they?" Of course they did, it's not like he had done anything worthwhile to earn their respect, like protecting the village from a homicidal jinchūriki, but oh wait, he did and they still couldn't care less.

"That's not true," Rei insisted with a forceful nudge and a light frown. "Hayase, Shikamaru and those two in the green spandexes were supporting you. There were plenty of people that were betting on you too."

Naruto looked up at the last part. "That's surprising."

"It shouldn't be, you were amazing."

Naruto reached for her hand and squeezed it softly. "Thank you," he said in a whisper as she leant into him. He leaned in and kissed her, dipping his neck as he deepened the kiss for a few seconds. They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence; it wasn't that they had run out of topics of conversation already, but rather didn't feel the need to talk to keep each other entertained or in their company.

"Uzumaki Naruto..."

Naruto looked up from his embrace... his eyes widened. "Sasu-" No, this wasn't Sasuke. "Who are you?" he demanded as he suddenly felt an ominous sensation as he looked into the pair of Sharingan eyes.

"Would you please come with me?" Itachi asked calmly.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

This has probably been the toughest to write chapter I have ever written. For one, I started writing this in the few minutes I could catch between studying for my finals. Secondly, I simply couldn't fit everything I wanted to write in the first chapter so I wrote _two _different versions before finally settling on what I wanted. Lastly, because I was writing this chapter during sporadic breaks, it simply doesn't flow the way I would have liked it to. Suffice to say, it's not the best chapter so far, but I'm just glad it's done and you can read it. If the quality is off, then you know why.

Now, moving on to the chapter, and I'll try to keep it brief. The Itachi Returns Arc will be different, Itachi's return takes place at a different time: Tsunade is already the Godaime. Also, Kisame is fully aware of Itachi's disease (whether he knew at this stage or at all in the manga is unknown) and has agreed to help him out. Furthermore, Itachi's disease is more prominent and will continue to be so to an extent as the story progresses. As for Naruto's new jutsu, it isn't anything major, really. He can fly for a limited time, but as you can see, it is far from perfect and overuse of the jutsu makes it impossible for him to use his hands so he won't be flying around all the time.

**Notes**

(1) I don't know who or when, but according to most fanfiction a few years ago the Intercepting Fist has always been the Uchiha Clan's taijutsu style. I'd give credit if I knew who to give credit to, but yeah, this is a thing.

(2) Maruboshi Kosuke is an anime only filler character introduced in episode 190 of Naruto: Shippūden. I usually don't like filler, much less filler characters, but the Naruto anime is pretty good at them. I guess it's because the show's concept has a lot of potential for a lot of things and that includes bad ass characters, of which Kosuke is a good example.


	14. Chapter 14: Outclassed

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 28-08-12_

_Updated: 01-09-12  
><em>

**_A shout out and a massive thank you to Lanky Nathan for the awesome Nakamura Rei fanart. The link is on my page if you want to check it out. Also, check out Lanky Nathan's FFN profile. When he's not drawing awesome shit, he's writing it. _**

**_Most spelling errors ought to be accounted for, if not, I'll get to it. Get off my back, I'm only human!_**

* * *

><p>CH14: Outclassed<p>

* * *

><p>(With Naruto)<p>

Naruto was no stranger to fear. In his lifetime, he had experienced it more times than he could count. In fact, having grown up on his own, he had experienced more fear than the average child: the fear of solitude, the fear of responsibility, and the fear of being rejected and never to be acknowledged... all these fears and more were still fresh in his mind and he was likely to never forget them, that was his burden.

The fear of death, strangely enough, he had experienced only a few times in his life. The first time he had truly experienced fear of death was on Team 7's first C-ranked mission. The encounter with the Demon Brothers was not so much as terrifying as it was a wakeup call, a reminder of his own mortality, something he had never truly been aware of prior to the mission to Wave. He would've died then and there if not for _Sasuke._ The second time Naruto felt this kind of paralysing fear was against Zabuza, though that was hardly a surprise. The fear he knew for Zabuza was unreal, he could practically taste the killing intent, but he got over of it and became stronger because of it. His most recent experience of fear of death was when he fought Sabaku no Gaara. While he had been in plenty of scary situations since, Naruto had yet to feel the same fear... _until now._

None other than Uchiha Itachi stood before him and Rei. The nuke-nin looked frail, _sickly_ even, but this did _nothing_ to hinder the fear Naruto felt as soon as he laid eyes on him.

"Will you come quietly?" Itachi asked again calmly as the shock settled in the blonde's eyes.

The world suddenly began to distort and change colours before Naruto's eyes; he felt weak, tired and nauseated but he refused to let it take him. Naruto fought as hard as he could to keep his eyes open, but it too hard, too difficult... As his eyes began to droop and his posture slouched...

A sudden stinging sensation in his back vanquished his drowsiness. Suddenly his fatigue was gone and the world went back to the way it was before, only now he was standing, stopping midstride as Rei removed her hands from his back.

"Genjutsu," Naruto whispered as he realised his error. Fortunately Rei had disturbed his chakra with her own and dispelled it. "What do you want from me?" he demanded as he slid a kunai from the ninja wire mechanism on his left wrist, willing himself to look at Itachi's shoulders, away from those deadly eyes.

"I had hoped to avoid this," Itachi stated as he reached for his straw hat and cast it aside lightly, yet with enough force to imbed it in a few inches deep in the bark of the nearest tree.

Naruto swallowed thickly, glancing to Rei momentarily. She didn't know what to do any more than he did. 'What do I do... fight?' he instantly dismissed the foolish notion. 'This is Uchiha Itachi, he killed the entire Uchiha Clan, there's no way I could take him on.'

"Run!" Rei grabbed his wrist and began to run to the right; Naruto went along with it immediately, overtaking her and directing her through the woods as they ran.

They ran about fifteen feet when a school of crows burst into existence before them and formed into Itachi. "Another genjutsu?" Naruto grit his teeth. "No, it's a variant of the Shunshin. He's using crows to mask his movements!" Rei supplied as they darted to another direction.

Itachi remained were he stood for a moment, eyeing them passively as he could see the fear in his target's eyes, fear for the girl more than for himself.

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

Sasuke stalked through the forest, a seemingly perpetual scowl on his face as he did so. He had yet to fully cool down from the match and let out his anger on a nearby street, punching it just once to crack its bark.

_Flashback..._

Kakashi pulled down his headband to cover his Sharingan as he looked at Sasuke with clear disappointment in his eyes. "Perhaps it was mistake teaching you that technique." Sasuke remained seated on the dirt, unresponsive to the comment. "I taught you the Chidori to protect your comrades, not to attack them with it, Sasuke. When will you learn?"

"Maybe you should teach better," Sasuke shot back with a scowl at his sensei. "I've been training with you nonstop since the exams and I haven't improved at all. Naruto... he's gotten much stronger, he's catching up." Sasuke looked back down to the ground, picking at weeds as an outlet for his frustration.

"Catching up? Don't flatter yourself, Sasuke. It's beneath you."

Sasuke looked up with confusion to his sensei. "What?"

"He's already stronger than you are," Kakashi stated clearly as though relaying the condition of the weather. "You simply haven't realised it yet, or rather you have but refuse to accept it."

Sasuke grit his teeth, glaring daggers at the scarecrow-looking jōnin. "That's impossible. I had him the entire match!"

"Did you? Are you forgetting the fact he barely used any ninjutsu against you?" the jōnin chastised him. "You were out of steam after a few minutes. Naruto didn't even break a sweat and he was holding back the entire time. Accept the facts, you were outclassed."

Sasuke opened his mouth to give an angry retort but caught the look of pity and disappointment in Kakashi's lone visible eye.

"Do you think I'm telling you this because it's _amusing_, Sasuke?" It was a rhetorical question so the raven-haired genin didn't reply to it. "I'm telling you this because it is time you get over your anger and _let go_ of your inferiority and superiority complexes. You need to fight for more than revenge, you need stop letting your anger rule you."

"What do _you_ know about my anger, _what do you_ _know_ about revenge, Kakashi?" Sasuke demanded as he raised his voice. "Don't pretend you know anything about me!"

Kakashi let out a sigh and shook his head slowly; the look of pity became only more profound as he genin screamed at him. "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! I don't want your _pity,_ Kakashi! I need you to train me more seriously, I want to become stronger."

"You already disgraced the one technique I taught you, Sasuke. What makes you think I will trust you with another? Until you prove to me you can change and fight for more than yourself, I will not teach you." Kakashi turned on his heel and promptly left, leaving Sasuke to himself. "Go apologise to Naruto."

_... End Flashback_

"Tche!" Sasuke stuck his hands in his pockets and continued his stride as he searched for the blond. As much as he hated to admit it, Kakashi was right, about everything. He had taken it too far during their match and nearly killed the one person he could relate to, the closest thing he had to a friend, and for what, to prove that he was stronger? He hadn't been this disgusted by his own behaviour since the time he nearly surrendered their scroll during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams...

Kakashi was right, about everything, and he had to go and find Naruto, and apologise.

-ooo-

(Konoha Riverbank)

Kisame was thoroughly enjoying himself as he swung his Samehada like a bat, wielding its crushing weight against the last of the ANBU operatives, easily breaking several ribs and arm as he launched him across the dirt, down the cobbled bank and into the river. Kisame looked over to his partner and smiled; it was always a treat to see Itachi fight.

The Uchiha skilfully dodged his attackers, slicing tendons and throats with a single kunai as he dispatched them one by one as though they were fresh out of the academy genin rather than A and B-ranked shinobi. There truly was no end to the gap between S-ranked shinobi and the ranks below them. "Behind you, Kisame," Itachi pointed out calmly as the operative from before charged at the shark-man, his broken arm hanging lip by his side.

"Ooh?" Kisame turned to the operative and smiled menacingly as the masked shinobi held up a single-handed hand seal and began to glow bright blue. "Suicide, huh?" Kisame intercepted the ANBU with a single lunge of his blade, ramming it into the operative's stomach and instantly robbing him from his chakra whilst sending him flying a good twenty feet.

"Im- impossible!" the operative exclaimed as he picked himself, coughing blood as he did so. "My chakra...! How did you-?"

"I thought you guys were above speech," Kisame mocked as he closed the distance between them in an instant and grabbed the ANBU by his throat. His prey was powerless to stop him without chakra and Kisame took great pleasure in squeezing his windpipe and watching him squirm and kick his feet in desperation.

"Be done with it, Kisame," Itachi ordered sternly as he cast aside his bloodied kunai and readied another. "It appears reinforcements are already here."

Kisame followed Itachi's eyes and looked to feet and found them to overrun by vines he had not seen before. "Eh, what is it?" It only took a swing of Samehada to make the vines disappear. "Genjutsu?"

Itachi merely nodded and approached his blue-skinned partner and stood next to him.

Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai, along with a dozen or so of other jōnin and chūnin touched down in prong formation, readying their weapons and jutsu. "Uchiha Itachi," Asuma's voice betrayed his surprise. "This is unexpected." The sentiment was mirrored by the majority of his comrades.

Itachi turned to Kisame and nodded. "Do as you please."

"Appreciated!" Kisame readied his Samehada and ran down the cobbled bank to the river and raised a massive water wall easily going thirty feet in the air. "Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!" A massive water shark leapt from the river and crashed into the group, taking down three chūnin in its attack and smashing its tail against a jōnin with its second.

Kakashi looked to his right and saw five of his comrades charge towards Itachi whilst he rest went after Kisame. "No!"

It was already too late. They barely got within ten feet of Itachi when the nuke-nin sped past them at a speed Kakashi couldn't hope to match himself. In the blink of an eye, Itachi dispatched the two jōnin and their chūnin subordinates, carving through them with his kunai like a hot knife through butter. _And he did ever so gracefully. _No wasted movements, no excessive force, they simply dropped like flies.

Kakashi's eyes widened as his shinobi comrades fell to the ground, seemingly dead. His shock was replaced almost immediately with anger and he charged at the Uchiha, intent on separating him from his partner. "Chidori!" Kakashi stabbed at Itachi, knowing he would miss, intentionally pushing him back further.

Sharp chunks of concrete shot past Itachi's cold, calculative eyes; Kakashi was on him, aiming a kick Itachi ducked under and swinging a back fist the S-ranked shinobi caught with ease as he turned on his heel. "What are you after?" Kakashi had to ask. What was Konoha's most notorious nuke-nin doing here? It was so unexpected, so insanely risky and _random._ No, Uchiha Itachi was a lot of things, but he certainly not random, certainly not rash or out for revenge, he had to have a motive... but what?

"I do not see how that is any of your business, Sharingan no Kakashi." Itachi swung Kakashi like a rag doll, casting him into the river where he rolled over the surface. "You managed to resist my genjutsu, impressive."

Kakashi's lone Sharingan eye darted erratically in warning of an attack. "Suiton: Suijinheki no Jutsu!" In the nick of time, Kakashi erected a protective barrier against six _water drills_ that erupted around him. 'He's fast! I didn't even see him do any hand seals.'

Itachi slowly began his descent down the cobbled bank and stepped onto the water at a leisurely pace. Kakashi took a hit to his pride but he knew he better than to let that affect him. There was no way around the fact Uchiha Itachi was a superior combatant. He had to give it his all if he wanted to survive this, let alone win.

Kakashi glanced to his comrades; his eyes widened as he noticed they were down to Asuma, Kurenai and only two other jōnin. "You should never take your eye off your opponent."

By the time Kakashi focused himself on Itachi, he found the nuke-nin standing mere inches from him, staring impassively as though he already knew the outcome of their match.

-ooo-

(Hokage Tower)

The doors burst open as Shizune pushed past them, rushing into the Godaime's office. "Tsunade-sama!" she called loudly.

Tsunade woke up with a start from her desk, a file stuck to her forehead and wiping drool of her chin. "I was just resting my eyes!" Upon noticing her assistant appeared distressed, the Hokage's expression became serious. "What is it?"

"Uchiha Itachi is in the village!"

"What?" Tsunade exclaimed loudly to which Shizune could only nod. "What's the damage?"

"We have already lost an ANBU squad so far," Shizune reported dutifully, forcing herself to get over her own shock over the situation. "I have received numerous reports Hatake Kakashi is leading several other jōnin and chūnin at the western most riverbank."

"Is it just Itachi?" Tsunade asked as she raised from her desk and reached for her robe.

Shizune shook her head. "It appears Uchiha Itachi has brought along with him Hoshigaki Kisame, an S-ranked nuke-nin from Kiri and former member of its elite-"

"I know who he is," Tsunade said as she slipped on her robe. "The most western riverbank is about ten minutes from here. That'll take too long, fetch Genma's team."

"You intend to go out there, Tsunade-sama?"

"Of course!" Tsunade affirmed as though it was obvious. "I am the Godaime Hokage, this village is my responsibility to protect. I'll make an example of these two. Now go fetch Genma!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune turned and rushed out of the office. When Tsunade got like this, _no one _needed to be told twice. Secretly, she was a little excited, it had been far too long since she saw her teacher like this.

Tsunade turned to the shadowy corner in her office. "Tenzō, you're coming with me."

Tenzō stepped out of the shadows and gave a dogmatic nod.

-ooo-

(With Naruto)

Dozens of crows burst into existence before Naruto and Rei as Itachi appeared before them once more. "You have nowhere to run," Itachi stated calmly as he slowly approached them.

Naruto looked around him and found they were surrounded by a dozen clones, he could tell from experience they were Shadow Clones. "Two can play at that game... Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Hundreds upon hundreds of Kage Bunshin surrounded the pair of chūnin, obscuring Itachi's views. Naruto ignored the pain in his wrists and grabbed Rei by the hand, running off into a different direction. "Just follow my lead!" he whispered as the surrounding clones Transformed into perfect copies of Rei.

They ran through the forest as fire came bearing their way, destroying his clones with ease, though fortunately plenty pairs of Naruto and Rei-clones got away. 'Please let him buy it!' Naruto silently prayed as they ran amongst dozens of their copies.

For a moment, Naruto felt his fear melt away; it looked as though Itachi had fell for it. It didn't last however as the Sharingan-user flew past them, turning on his heel to backhand Naruto with enough force to lift him off his feet and send him bounding across the dirt.

"That was a good use of the Kage Bunshin," Itachi complimented offhandedly as Naruto picked himself up. "It would have worked on anyone else but me," he added. "You cannot escape these eyes."

Naruto wiped the blood off his chin. "You sound just like Sasuke." Fuck, that hurt! Itachi was deceptively strong.

"Oh?" Itachi turned his head somewhat intrigued.

Naruto had to ask out of pride. "How did you know I was the original?" Not even Neji and Sasuke could see through his clones. And yet Itachi picked him apart out of three hundred perfect clone copies.

"You had one of your clones take the girl underground whilst you lured me out here, the opposite direction of which she went," Itachi answered. "And now, one of my clones is with her. No harm will become her for now."

'Rei' went up in smoke as Naruto spat blood on the ground. "What do you want from me?"

"I do not particularly enjoy going after weak prey," Itachi mused in his monotone voice, ignoring the question. "I will not hurt her so long as you do not attempt to escape."

Naruto could stare with widened eyes.

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

Rei panted heavily as she and Naruto were cornered by one of Itachi's clones. "How did he know we're the real ones?"

Itachi flung his kunai faster than she could follow; a split second later 'Naruto' fell to the ground clutching his throat as blood spurted from the wound. Before Rei had realised what happened, he disappeared in a burst of smoke. "A Kage Bunshin?"

"As am I," the Itachi-clone informed. "Please do not move. I will have to hurt you if you do."

-ooo-

(With Naruto)

Naruto clenched his fist, biting through the pain in his wrists. "I don't understand. I've never met you before, what could you possibly want from me?"

Itachi gave no answer to his question, and simply stared at him. He hadn't even used his genjutsu on the few occasions Naruto slipped up and looked him in the eye. "If you're going to kill me, the least you can do is give me an answer."

There was no answer but it didn't matter; the longer he held Itachi engaged in conversation the more time he'd have for his wounds to heal. He could already feel the pain in his wrists lessening, in a few minutes they'd be as good as new. "That cloak," Naruto pointed at the red clouds on Itachi's cloak. "You're Akatsuki, aren't you?"

"That is correct," Itachi confirmed, not in the least intrigued by the fact Naruto indentified him as a member of the infamous, international mercenary organisation.

"There's no way I can beat you," Naruto admitted. "You're faster than I am, you're stronger and smarter... there isn't a single area I have a shot at beating you in. I have as much of a chance at beating you as snowball has at extinguishing the sun."

"Are you afraid?" Itachi asked with a voice so devoid of any emotion it made Naruto shuddered involuntary and put on a mirthless grin.

"I feel like running so I guess I am." He assumed a fighting stance and swallowed thickly as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. "But that doesn't mean I'll go down without a fight!"

"Interesting."

'If I'm going down today, I'm going down swinging!' Naruto steeled his resolve. He was scared, he knew he had no chance of winning, but fuck it if he was going to die a coward. "Katon!" Chakra surged through his body greater than usual, enhanced by his adrenaline and desperation. "Ryūka no Jutsu!"

Naruto puffed his chest and spat a wave of fire larger than he had ever produced before. He felt a scorching sensation in his throat, but he pushed past it, bearing down his flames on Itachi who disappeared a split second before impact. Naruto could feel him before he saw him and cancelled his technique abruptly and dived to the ground as Itachi sliced at him with a kunai, nicking his arm. 'That son of a bitch!'

Naruto rolled on his shoulders and gripped the earth. "Doton: Doryūheki!" His Earth Wall erected just in time to shield him from a hail of kunai and shuriken. 'Tche! I just need to hold him off long enough for someone to notice.' Naruto ran a hand over his bracer and raised it to parry Itachi's stab, batting away ferociously, desperate in his bid to stay alive for as long as he could. Naruto reached for his shuriken holster and chucked a pair at Itachi. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two shuriken became two hundred, soaring at his opponent who skilfully deflected several and jumped back to dodge the rest. "Fūton!" Naruto slide into a wide stance and thrust his palm at the shuriken as he redirected them at Itachi at even higher speed. "Reppūshō!"

Itachi wasn't fazed in the slightest by the unexpected move, disappearing and reappearing several feet away in mere seconds. He was fast! He was so incredibly fast he made Rock Lee look like a snail. Adding to that, his Sharingan could predict Naruto's moves – _it was like child's play for him_.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto created three clones who charged at Itachi, tackling him as they began to glow. 'Go!' he mentally screamed as the clones detonated.

_BOOM!_

The Shadow Clones' combined explosion hurled him off his feet with a force so great it uprooted several trees nearby and formed a ten feet deep crater in the earth as wide as average house. Naruto caught himself midair and slid across the ground. It hadn't worked, there wasn't a single trace of Itachi nor was he foolish enough to believe that would actually work in the first place. Still, while his attack was unsuccessful, the explosion was bound to attract attention.

"You are strong," Itachi acknowledged as he stepped into view from behind a tree, a crow on his right shoulder. "In a few years you could truly become a monster."

Naruto scowled at the remark, he didn't like being called a monster. "Thanks for the compliment," he spat sarcastically. 'OK, take a deep breath and calm down, Naruto,' he told himself as he tried to take fear and anger out of the equation. They were only clouding his judgement. "What is it you want from me?"

"Back to stalling?" Itachi came to a stop midstride only a few feet away. "_I_ don't want anything from you, Uzumaki Naruto." He didn't elaborate any further much to the jinchūriki's dismay.

"Then who does?" he demanded loudly, frustrated with his situation, frustrated with his own weakness and the fact he was powerless and alone and _certain to die._ "You don't seem to be the type of person that kills people simply for the fun of it. Why are you here? Tell me!"

"You know my younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke," Itachi said, once again ignoring his question. "You were placed on same team as him under Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto frowned with confusion. "What of it?"

"What do you think of him?" It was the question Naruto had least expected, and for a moment he believed he had misheard Itachi, but the nuke-nin clarified his question: "Do you consider him a friend?"

"It's a bit late to assume the role of a caring brother, don't you think, asshole?" Naruto found his voice again, and with it, _hatred_ for what Uchiha Itachi had put his friend through. "What you did that night... Sasuke's the way he is because of you!"

For a moment, spanning no longer than a second, Naruto could've sworn he saw something, he wasn't sure what it was, or whether he was simply imagining it, but there was _something_ there in Itachi's eyes. "You know, Sasuke and I aren't the closest of friends, we never were... we always argue and fight. He used to beat me all the time and deep down somewhere I hated him for it. I'm not gonna sugar coat it, so let me put it like this: your little brother is an asshole. "But," he added before Itachi could respond, "Seeing your here," Naruto clenched his fists so tight his nails dug into his skin. "It makes me want to tear you apart on his behalf!"

Throwing caution to the wind, he charged at Itachi with his tantō drawn, bounding into a leap as he stabbed at the S-ranked shinobi, turning his heel and following suit as Itachi dashed back, darting away as he easily dodged his futile attempts at stabbing him. Naruto felt a corrosive hatred for the man, he hated how _outclassed _he was, how weak he was in comparison and how powerless it made him feel. In the back of his mind he could only imagine how much worse it must have been for Sasuke. If anything, this only made try harder, his anger for his own situation _and that of his friend_, as fractured as their friendship may be, it fuelled the fire behind his movements like it was rocket fuel.

After a few seconds of dodging, Itachi's hand surged forward and grabbed Naruto's wrist, exerting so much pressure Naruto felt as though it was going to break. One stinging sensation of pain was followed by another, and another and another as Itachi began to pummel him, punching and kicking him as he laid down a beating Naruto was too slow to dodge, too weak to fight back.

_Crack! _There went another rib. Another _crack _followed, resounding from his nose as Itachi punched him in the face, holding him against a tree with one hand, easily lifted him up a few inches above the ground with his deceptive strength as he continued to rain punishing blows, all the while maintaining his unreadable expression and cold, calculative eyes.

By the time the beating stopped, he could taste blood in his mouth and he felt as though all the bones in his body were broken and a hundred times heavier. _And he was tired._ He _so_ tired. By the end of it, he just wanted to _sleep_, he wanted the pain to take him and succumb to unconsciousness.

Itachi lowered his fist and dropped Naruto to the ground, watching him intently as the blonde slid down the bark. A gleaming light in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Itachi turned and walked over to the source, finding it to be the blonde's tantō.

Immediately noticing its age, Itachi held the short blade aloft and read the characters aloud softly: "The Will of Fire shall illuminate the village..." Itachi's face remained expressionless, unreadable, but his eyes changed ever so slightly as he stared the engraving as though the words were of some sort of profound meaning to him. A meaning his blonde victim had no way of understanding, a meaning only a few men and women in the worldcould understand.

While his mind took him elsewhere for a moment, Itachi sensed a newcomer and looked to his right as a massive fireball came crashing his way, feeling its heat as it closed in on him. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The earth shook as the Katon jutsu drove to the ground, marring the earth with scorch marks and soot. Its intended target was long gone by then of course, repositioned a safe distance away as Sasuke darted out of a tree, Sharingan eyes wide and blazing with a mixture of shock and rage. "Itachi!"

"Sasuke," the nuke-nin responded calmly, not all visibly affected by the sight of his younger brother for the first time in years. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke didn't answer and instead began to rapidly weave hand seals. "I should be asking you that!" Chakra surged through his arm, converting to a spherical orb of lightning in his hand. "Chidori!"

"And what do you intend to do with Hatake Kakashi's technique?"

"I intend to kill you!" Sasuke roared, setting off with a burst of speed, wielding the Chidori like a spear attached to his hand.

Itachi intercepted the technique, grabbing Sasuke by the wrist and forcing his own chakra into the technique. Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt his control over the technique disappear. Itachi flung him aside as it happened: the Chidori exploded in a storm of lightning, electrocuting Sasuke as he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

"You are still far too weak to challenge me, little brother," Itachi stated matter-of-factly as he neared his younger sibling. A kunai soared through the air, narrowly missing the bridge of his nose. Itachi turned to source and found Naruto had regained consciousness: Itachi could see the damage he had dealt reverse before his eyes. "Jinchūriki are truly troublesome individuals. You only need moments of rests to heal your wounds."

The torturous current had ceased by the time Itachi glanced at Sasuke, who slowly picked himself up and resumed his stance. "Do not get involved, Sasuke. I am not here for you."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Sasuke screamed at him. He couldn't understand what was happening, why Itachi was here, and what his business was with Naruto, but how could he? All that mattered now was his revenge, even if he would die trying now, he wouldn't have it any other way. He would rather die than run away _again_.

"Idiot." Naruto spat blood as he leaned against the tree. "Why did you get involved? You should've gone and gotten help."

"Shut up!" Sasuke looked from Itachi to the blonde, still confused and disorientated from his brief electrocution. "What is going on? Why is my brother here, what does he want from you?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Itachi aim the tantō at his younger brother. "You idiot, keep your eyes on him!" Dropping to a knee, he slammed his palm on the dirt and channelled chakra through it. "Doryūheki!"

The Earth Wall shot up just in the nick of time, shielding his former teammate from the blade. Despite his appearance, Itachi clearly had significant physical strength. If his taijutsu wasn't a proof of that, the fact he nearly managed to pierce a foot thick wall of earth with a casual flick was.

How were they supposed to fight him? No, the more important question was how they were going to survive. Naruto hated this situation, he hated it more than anything, this sense of powerlessness that came with being utterly _outclassed_, by someone only six years his senior no less. What do you when you're faced with an opponent that just utterly _owned _you? What could you do?

'Think!' Naruto mentally shouted to himself. 'For once your life, think this through. Come on! There has to be a way, some strategy, some angle. Fuck, what I wouldn't give for Shikamaru's brains right now!'

"Have you come to realise the hopelessness of your situation?" Itachi's expression betrayed no sense of emotion, not even superiority or condescension. He was genuinely curious from the looks of it. "What do you do when faced with an opponent you cannot beat? I wonder."

Naruto held back on his flippant remarks. Itachi was talking, and right now talking was good, talking bought him time. Talking kept him alive. "I guess there's no point in asking you what you want, is there? You've ignored my questions before."

"Do you stand and fight anyway?" the S-ranked rogue shinobi continued. "Do you run for your life, hoping that somehow you survive? I wonder what your answer is."

"Was he always this cryptic when you were younger?" Naruto turned to his former teammate.

Sasuke's clenched fist trembled uncontrollably; it was clear he wanted to fight, but knew it would be pointless so his instincts kept him grounded. "Brother..."

Clearly he wasn't going to be of any help, Naruto realised. He couldn't exactly blame the guy, given the history of the siblings. 'Maybe if I summon Gamahiro or Gamabunta I can high tail it out of here,' Naruto considered as the brothers continued to stare at each other without another word. 'No,' he quickly decided against it. 'That bastard's still got Rei cornered. He wasn't bluffing earlier, he'll kill her if I run.'

"Go home, Sasuke," Itachi ordered. He wasn't interested in his younger brother, or at least not at the moment. "Your lack of progression is disappointing. Disappear."

"I'm not going anywhere!" the younger brother shouted as the Earth Wall well apart and the tantō dropped with muffled thud.

Itachi took steps forward to his brother. "Very well," he conceded, as he disappeared and reappeared mere inches from his younger brother. Itachi moved so fast, Sasuke didn't even have the chance to blink before he felt his brother's fist drive into his gut, taking the air out of his lunges.

More followed: a hail of punches, strategically aimed to break him down, as painfully as possible while keeping him conscious. And even with his Sharingan, Sasuke was powerless; he couldn't even see them coming, much less defend himself. And as the blows continued to rain down, Naruto's eyes darted from left to right as he hurried his mind to come with a plan. 'Maybe now is a good time to collect rent.'

He gave it some serious thought, and as much as he disliked using power that wasn't his own, it was the only logical choice now. The Kyūbi's chakra would surely draw some attention if he used it, even if it didn't do much good for his odds. Itachi wasn't anything like Gaara or Sasaki, it would take more than what little power of the fox he could control to beat him, far more, but he didn't have any other ideas. He was out of ideas, out of clever tricks, not out of a lack of imagination but due to a lack of practicality. What was the point in _trying _to outsmart someone that was stronger than you? There was none. It was simply a wasted effort.

He had no choice but to rely on the fox.

His opponent was an S-ranked shinobi with a Sharingan so keen it could see his moves before he made them, a Sharingan mastered to such a degree it could distinguish him from _thousands_ of perfect copies. Running away wasn't an option, standing his ground and fighting back with everything he had, as foolish as it sounded, was.

'If I have on advantage on this bastard, it's that he's far stronger than I am and he knows it, so he won't retreat. I just have to make sure I go at him with everything I got from the start!'

"Alright then..." Raising his hands to shoulder level, Naruto gave it his all as he tried to emulate his experience against Neji and Gaara. 'You better be awake fox, it's time to pay rent!' he shouted as he slammed his palms together.

-ooo-

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Kurama's massive fangs parted in an ominous grin. **"You have some audacity to not come and grovel for my power, whelp."**

_"You better be awake fox, it's time to pay rent!"_ Naruto's voice rang through the mindscape.

Kurama noted the desperation and urgency in container's voice. **"Very well,"** he continued to grin as crimson, bubbly chakra escape his cell. **"As per our agreement."**

-ooo-

(Real World)

It worked.

He could tell before he opened his eyes. Power, pure and euphoric _power_, surged through his body, altering his appearance as the fox's chakra settled. His hair grew longer and unrulier, fangs protruded from the corner of his mouth and his nails grew as long and thick as that of an Inuzuka. The most prominent change was in his eyes however as the blue orbs were replaced by blood red, slit eyes.

'No time to waste,' Naruto decided as he summoned as much of the Kyūbi's chakra as he could.

The sudden burst of red chakra caught the eye of both Uchiha brothers. Having pinned down his younger brother against the tree by his throat, Itachi turned to look over his shoulder, only to find Naruto standing next to him, rearing back his as he bore his fangs and split eyes in an angry snarl. "RUAH!"

Itachi held up a free palm just in time to block the attack, but the force behind it was so great he skid back several feet, a scrape on his hand but otherwise completely unharmed.

Sasuke fell to his knees, gasping for air as he held his throat and drew air. Looking up, his eyes bulged at the sight of Naruto's spontaneous regeneration. "Your wounds... How is that possible?"

"It's a long story," Naruto answered dismissively. "Get on your feet."

"A dōjutsu?" Sasuke gasped again at the sight of the blonde's eyes. The shock ebbed away as soon as it appeared as he realised their opponent was still on his guard. "Naruto?"

Naruto ignored him; he couldn't afford to answer any questions. The Kyūbi was being cooperative for now, but who knew how long it would last, how much of the fox's chakra his body could hold? With that in mind, Naruto charged at Itachi, fully aware of his position, of the fact it was do or die. There was no room for doubt or fear. Only his determination would see to it he would survive, that Rei would survive, and fuck it, that even Sasuke survived! 'Shunshin!' He dashed at his opponent as quick as lightning, punching at his face and, of course, missing, but following up with, "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" It was a pointless effort, he knew, but right now it didn't matter whether he hit Itachi. He just needed to stay on the offensive, move the fight on his terms.

Itachi easily dodged the flames on point blank range, once again making it clear just how great the difference in speed was between them, but Naruto didn't care, there was no time to _care_ about the little things. Itachi could fucking dodge his attacks while doing _pirouettes_ for all he cared, he just needed to draw this out for as long as possible.

And the bastard was behind him, surging his way but Naruto saw him coming. He was tempted to use his Propulsion Palms but decided against it. That technique was too much of a double edged sword to use, especially in a fight he was already losing, so he threw up his forearms in a defensive guard instead and coated them with his Doryū Taiga, hardening the mud to make sort of shield just in time. "You know, I really _hate_ assholes like you!" Naruto remarked as he rolled over his shoulders having sustained minimal damage though Itachi broke through his guard. "If you want to kill me, at least have the decency to tell me why!" Naruto formed another pair of hand seals and spat a stream of water. "Mizurappa!"

For a second it looked like he had a hit but Itachi disappeared, disembodied in a flock of crows that converged behind him. "Feel free to help out at any time!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke, frustrated with his rival's absentmindedness, aiming a kick backwards, causing the flock to scatter and converge in front him again. 'Hold on!' he thought as he noticed the glossy look in the avenger's eyes. 'He's been snared by a genjutsu, damn it! When did that happen?'

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Several clones appeared and charged at Itachi, proving to be even less effective than he had hoped as Itachi dispatched them with a hail of shuriken.

Mimicking his opponent, Naruto drew to shuriken and threw them at Itachi, weaving hand seals as fast he could as they soared through the air. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three projectiles turned into three hundred, slicing through the air, cutting down branches and entire trees as they all missed their targets.

Itachi's Shunshin was incredibly difficult to read, what with the crows masking his movements to the point it was _impossible _to keep track of him. "Snap out of it!" Naruto dashed over to his genjutsu-stricken rival and pushed chakra through his chest. "Wake up!"

Sasuke's eyes refocused and settled on him in angry snarl for a split second, but realising where he was, his eyes snapped to Itachi's position. "Listen, we're in some deep shit, Sasuke," Naruto snapped at him. "I need you to quit your bitching and _focus_! Tell me where his Shunshin takes him and we might stand a chance."

"I- I can't see it either," Sasuke admitted begrudgingly, digging his fingers in the palms of his hand. "He's too fast."

"_Bullshit!_" Naruto snapped at him with a pinch of panic in his voice. "What happened to your 'before these eyes' crap? You want to survive this? Then focus! Focus like your life depends on it, because it does." There was no time for sugar-coating, there wasn't any time for it Naruto decided as he shot a kunai from his ninja wire wrist setup and coated it with chakra. He wasn't very experienced with chakra flow, but Hayase had taught him the basics at least.

Itachi exploded in burst of crows once again as the chakra flow covered kunai soared past him, and reappeared behind Naruto, backhanding the blonde into a tree. Quick on his feet, Naruto rushed again, punching and kicking wildly, turning on his heels as he matched Itachi's movements to best of his ability and continuously summoning more of the Kyūbi's power. His movements were sloppy and his attacks were more like feints, but at least he managed to keep up somewhat.

For his part, Itachi continued to dodge and counter his kicks and punches, throwing retaliating blows whenever he was given an opening, all the while maintaining his cool, expressionless demeanour. "Your desperation makes your easy to read," he stated, catching Naruto off guard, and punishing the jinchūriki for his carelessness by punching him straight in the face with enough force to send him flying.

He didn't fly far however, as Sasuke caught the blond midair and steadied him on his feet. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Of course evading the fireball was far too easy for a shinobi of Itachi's calibre, but Naruto was back on his feet by then and charged at him with a set of dozen clones, jumping over each other and weaving their movements in perfect synchronisation in an effort to overwhelm him with numbers. "Futile," Itachi remarked as he sliced through the clones with grace and precision neither of his young foes believed possible in combat.

"Tche!" Naruto grit his teeth as Sasuke bought more time with another fire jutsu. "Fūton: Reppūshō!" It was worth a shot to augment the fire with his wind chakra, though he was sceptical it would make any difference as Itachi would surely avoid the attack. "We need a plan."

Sasuke released the stream of fire and panted heavily. "Stay out of this," he said as he glared daggers at Naruto. "I am the one that will kill him." Sure enough, the Uchiha genin went through a string of hand seals Naruto had become acquainted with.

"Don't bother," Naruto reached out and grabbed his nearest wrist. "It's a waste of chakra. You need to run, he's not after you, at least not today."

The notion didn't sit too well with Sasuke judging from the snarl on his face. "Stay out of this! You can run if you're scared, I will kill him by myself- ack!" A pain, a white hot, searing pain shot through Sasuke's body.

"What is it?" Naruto sounded alarmed as he Sasuke fell to a knee, clutching his shoulder in pain, letting out a silent scream. "When did he-"

"So it is true," Itachi mused out loud. "You have been marked by Orochimaru's jūin, Sasuke."

"Jūin?" Naruto's eyes widened at the news. He had read a thing or two about Cursed Seals in the literature Hiruzen had provided to him. "Orochimaru?" he repeated sounding confused, though it was already dawning on him. 'Those marks from the time he fought in the preliminaries and against Gaara... When did Orochimaru place one on him?'

Sasuke breathed heavily as he reigned himself in. "This is nothing," he boasted with an inexplicable show of arrogance as the seal began to pulsate dark energy. "I'll kill you!" he claimed with a psychotic look in his eyes and a grin so far from characteristic, Naruto could've sworn he was standing next to a stranger.

"Orochimaru's jūin is embedded with his own foul chakra," Itachi began explaining though none had asked. It was an odd sight, but Naruto didn't dare to interrupt. At least this gave him some time to think.

"His chakra?" Naruto repeated to buy some time, though he could not deny his own curiosity. "Why?"

If Itachi saw through his ploy, he didn't show it. "Through embedding his own chakra into his victims, the jūin allows them access to incredible short term power. The jūin increases strength, speed, durability and stamina, but it comes at a price."

"And what would that be?" Naruto clenched his fists tightly. He had a good idea of what that price could be. Sasuke had definitely changed in the time he was away. He had always been an arrogant bastard, but he was never this unpleasant.

"In return for the power of Orochimaru's jūin, the hosts of the seal sell their souls to him. The more they use it, the more their minds are deteriorated. Over time, they become less and less of their former selves bound to this will. Some become apathetic, emotionless husks of human beings, and some lose themselves to anger and lose their sanity to psychosis."

Naruto felt as though an anvil had just been dropped on him. It was starting to make sense now, the reason why Sasuke had changed so much. And this wasn't the first time he had seen it. No, he had encountered something similar to this before.

_"I JUST WANT POWER!"_

Even now, he remembered the deranged, psychotic look in Sasaki's eyes. "Is there a way to remove the jūin?"

"Mind your own business!" Sasuke snapped as he got to his feet, still breathing heavily. The psychotic look on his face had disappeared and the pulsing sensation in his shoulder ceased.

'This is bad,' Naruto thought clenching his fist subconsciously. 'As if it wasn't bad enough I'm fighting Uchiha fucking Itachi, Sasuke is a damn time bomb. And Rei... damn it. What am I going to do? I can't keep pulling more of the fox's chakra...' The crimson chakra that surrounded him earlier had become significantly dimmer by now. This wasn't going at all like he had planned it. He could demand more of the fox's chakra, but what good would it do? 'I'm too fucking weak!'

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

Itachi's clone continued to stare at Rei with an unreadable expression as time crept by slowly. A slight yet sudden movement prompted the clone to remind the kunoichi of her situation, not by words, but a simple _look._

Rei caught it immediately, and lowered her hand away from her kunai holster. Clone or not, it was more than just observant, it was also incredibly sharp. Even without words, she knew it had her figured out already, and she knew it too.

"What do you want from Naruto?" Rei asked for what seemed the hundredth time. As expected, the clone didn't respond and merely continued to stare at her with those intimidating red eyes. "You have no use for me, why not kill me?" Again no answer, to which Rei grit her teeth. Never had she felt _this _powerless before. All she could do was stand in the same position she had been standing in since she was cornered. But what choice did she have? Compared to Itachi, she was an ant, no threat by any stretch of the mind.

'Even so,' Rei thought as she slid into a _peculiar fighting stance._ 'I won't let him have his way and use my as some sort of hostage.'

"That stance," the Itachi-clone commented with a hint of surprise in his voice. "So you are one of Danzō's tools."

-ooo-

(Konoha Riverbank)

Kisame tore through his enemies with ease as he continued his rampage, surrounded by fallen shinobi and grinning madly as he fought in his controlled form of savagery, sparring none in his wake. His killer instincts, honed over a lifetime of battle, alarmed him of imminent danger, so the shark-man turned and raised Samehada in a guard, just in time to deflect a kunai. "You!" Kisame's eyes narrowed as he recognised his opponent.

"How many years has it been?" Ibiki asked as he jumped back several feet, touching down lightly as more reinforcements surrounded the former Kiri-nin. "You're as ruthless now as you were back then."

"I was hoping I'd run into you," Kisame admitted with a feral grin. Samehada vibrated with excitement, sensing its master's hunger for blood. "I still have to pay you back for last time."

Ibiki merely shook his head with an emotionless expression. "I am only the vanguard, Hoshigaki. Your opponent is on her way."

Kisame swung his blade to drain the chakra right out of a water jutsu headed his way and charged towards Ibiki. "You'll just have to amuse me until then!"

"I'm already here!" Tsunade declared as she appeared in his way, throwing a straight right Kisame haphazardly blocked with his Samehada.

"What an honour, Godaime-sama!" Kisame jeered mockingly, only to realise Samehada wasn't shaking in excitement anymore, but rather shaking in _pain._ The shark-man's eyes widened as he realised the depths of damage he had just avoided. 'Sasori was right.'

Tsunade cast aside her jacket and looked over to Ibiki. "I take it Kakashi went after Uchiha Itachi?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Ibiki confirmed with a nod, still marvelling at the speed with which she intercepted the S-ranked nuke-nin from Kiri. "Your orders?"

"I'll take it from here," Tsunade ordered, turning her gaze back to Kisame. "Ibiki, I need you go support Kakashi. Everyone else get back, you'll simply get in my way and he'll just absorb your chakra."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" her shinobi responded in unison, morale skyrocketing at the sight of their Hokage taking the reins.

Kisame swung Samehada a few times with renewed excitement. "What makes you think I can't just absorb your chakra?"

"Feel free to try," Tsunade replied as she raised her heel and dropped it to the ground with such force, the earth beneath her feet shot up in thick chunks, which she punched in his direction like massive earth bullets.

It was merely a distraction, Kisame knew, but even so he had to deflect the chunks of earth and much to his own surprise, the second he took his eyes of Tsunade, she was right next to him, rearing back her fist before she drove it into his face.

Had he been a normal man, he would've likely died on the spot, his death taken clean off his shoulders, but instead Kisame went flying, painfully bounding across the earth, spitting blood as he did so, tightly gripping Samehada's hilt as he found his footing, resisting to urge to nurse the fat, purple bruise on the left side of his face. 'Incredible… she broke my jaw!'

"You're a tough one," Tsunade noted, clenching and unclenching her fist as though she was just getting started. "I've lost my touch."

Samehada's hilt grew, snaking up to the shark-man's wound, healing it almost immediately as it shared the chakra it had absorbed from the Konoha-nin to heal its master. "You throw quite a punch, Hokage-sama."

"And that was just a love tap," Tsunade replied as she set off in his direction again, moving even faster than before.

-ooo-

(Kakashi VS Itachi)

In combat, Hatake Kakashi usually had two big advantages over his opponents. The first, was obvious, his Sharingan. With it, he could see his opponents' moves before they made them and make their techniques his own. The second advantage Kakashi usually had over his opponents was experience. While only in his late twenties, Kakashi had about two and a half decades of service under his belt, during which he came across a great many powerful shinobi, fearsome techniques and dire situations. This experience usually helped him greatly in combat, even against opponents with abilities he hadn't faced.

Against Uchiha Itachi, Kakashi had neither of his usual advantages. Itachi's Sharingan was _far _superior to his own, and when it came to experience, Kakashi didn't have much of an edge, if any at all. While over a decade his junior, Itachi was thrust into the shinobi world at young age and had thus accumulated as much experience as he had, if not more as Kakashi had no way of knowing what the rogue shinobi had been up to since his defection.

Thus it came down to skill. It was simple, whoever was the strongest, was the victor. Kakashi didn't think himself as prideful, but in most cases he knew he was more skilful than his opponents, even without his Sharingan.

Uchiha Itachi, however, was not just any opponent.

When it came down to skill, it was painfully obvious to Kakashi he was beat. And it showed as they fought. Fighting Uchiha Itachi was unlike any experience Kakashi had ever had. The complexity and the speed at which they fought was mindboggling. As they clashed with taijutsu, they simultaneously used their Sharingan to fight one another in another playing field: casting and undoing genjutsu and simultaneously reading each other's movements and moving to counter, whilst dodging a stab of a kunai here and a hail of shuriken there.

It was simply put _exhausting._

Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to keep up forever. Obito's eye drained his chakra and the strain on his body slowed his movements. He was tempted to pull down his headband for a few minutes but dismissed the notion, it was outright suicide.

They clashed once again, this time with kunai blades, pushing each other away as their eyes met. Itachi didn't budge, not even a little, betraying his frail appearance. "Your skill with the Sharingan is impressive, Sharingan no Kakashi, _for an outsider._"

"Thank you," Kakashi replied as he reached for another kunai. Itachi stopped the sudden movement by grabbing his wrist.

"Allow me to demonstrate the true power of the Uchiha," Itachi said as he looked Kakashi straight in the eye. Itachi's eyes began to spin as they changed in shape, now looking like a three-pronged shuriken.

"What the-" Kakashi fell short on his sentence as he was suddenly taken into a world of black and red.

"Tsukiyomi."

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

The massive, thick metal doors leading to Root's main headquarters burst open with such force they fell of their hinges, followed by several Root operatives that went flying to the air.

Danzō's lone visible eye remained closed as he held up a hand to thirty or so shinobi behind him in the poorly lit headquarters. "Stand down, you are no match for him."

Itachi's footsteps resounded loudly as he came to a stop, the shroud of orange and yellow chakra subsiding as his eyes fell on the man he came to see. "Danzō."

"Uchiha Itachi, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

And that's all you're getting! For now anyway.

Hope y'all liked that bit. It was pretty fun to write actually. I'm wondering, how many of you saw it coming Rei wasn't as wholesome as she appeared to be? Come on, show of hands. More than score will be explained in chapters ahead so look forward to that.

Taking a second to address the Naruto-Sasuke angst from last chapter, just to let you know, they're just having little spat. They're still friends, but their friendship is different now that the rivalry component has changed. Naruto is the stronger of the two and neither of them know how to deal with that change and sometimes, when we don't know how to deal with change, we act out in ways we wouldn't otherwise. How it goes from here, you'll have to read to find out.

That about does it for me, so until next time.

...

**Character Stats**

Uchiha Itachi | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 4.5 | Bukijutsu: 4 | Genjutsu: 5 | Intelligence: 5 | Strength: 3.5 | Speed: 4.5 | Stamina: 2.5 | Chakra: 4 | Chakra Control: 5 **| Total: 43 |**

Hoshigaki Kisame | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 3.5 | Bukijutsu: 5 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 5 | Speed: 4 | Stamina: 5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control: 4 **| Total: 42.5 |**

Hatake Kakashi | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 4 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 4 | Intelligence: 4.5 | Strength: 3.5 | Speed: 3.5 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 3.5 | Chakra Control: 4.5 **| Total: 39 |**


	15. Chapter 15: Cruel Kindness

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 12-11-12_

**_Am I the only that liked the reveal of Tobi in the manga? Just wondering. Anyhow, people, I've got a favour to ask. Once you're done devouring this chapter, head over to my other stories and give The Uzumaki Descendant a try. It's a bit outside of my comfort zone, but it's something new. Amongst other things, it's got a lot of politics to it and my own made up history of the shinobi world. It's really enjoyable to write, and judging from the reviews, it's a decent read as well._**

**_Also, I've tried this new thing with jutsu translations in the chapter. I used to this with my other stories, but if it's bothersome to enough of you, let me know and I'll get rid of that._**

* * *

><p>CH15: Cruel Kindness<p>

* * *

><p>(Earth Country)<p>

Jiraiya sat down on a bench by a quaint little teahouse he came across on his way back to Konoha. As his tea arrived, delivered by a young girl, his eyes remained plastered to the scroll in his hands. The gears of war were in motion; he was so sure of it he could feel it in his bones. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow and maybe not even for a few _years_, but Jiraiya could tell. He had fought in two of three Shinobi World Wars and he had fought on many battlefields since. He had fought on far too many.

Kusa was up to something, something big enough that warranted a summit to which all shinobi villages outside of the Great Five with military power worth a damn to be invited. "What are you up to, Sōgen? Summits aren't your thing." Jiraiya pondered on the leader of Kusagakure for a moment.

Sōgen the Overlord, he was the kind of shinobi that came only once every few generations amongst the minor villages. A shinobi with such power he put even the elite of the Great Five to shame. Sōgen was one of few that could go toe to toe with Hanzō the Salamander in his day. He was a powerful shinobi who lead his village unchallenged, killing all those who dared to oppose him. Jiraiya didn't know the man personally, but with like all great shinobi, reputation was a good indicator of what kind of person he was. From what Jiraiya could tell, Sōgen was cutthroat and ruthless, and dogmatic to a fault. He followed the shinobi codes to the letter, sacrificing any and all for the greater good of his village.

Kusa no Kuni's Daimyō was terrified of him, enough so to give him license to do as he pleased with his shinobi force. This was rather unusual, given the fact their Daimyō's armies could easily crush most minor villages if they so pleased, but Kusa was the exception to the rule. Kusa hadn't always been classified as a minor village. They were once so powerful even Konoha would be hard pressed to beat them if it ever came to war. No, Jiraiya shook his head: Konoha would have _probably _lost if they had waged war against Kusa. Fortunately, it never came to that. At the height of its power, Kusa was torn apart due to a civil war sparked by greed for riches and power by noblemen and shinobi alike. The sacred tools left behind by Rikudō Sennin, once assembled by the Hidden Grass, were lost, taken by Kumo, and their fortresses were destroyed by Iwa, who subsequently capitalized on the opportunity to weaken them severely economically by usurping a chunk of their clientele.

By the end of the war, the Daimyō was dead, as was his entire family. Sōgen took control shortly after and the new Daimyō fell in line with his agenda. Ever since Sōgen's ascension, Kusagakure had become a fearsome military power and the village was remodeled as a stronghold much like all shinobi villages were in the olden days, and the leader of Kusa ruled like a general, giving rise to his moniker as Shogun no Sōgen. Even by shinobi standards, the leader of Kusagakure was exceptionally cutthroat, downright cruel even according to some. Jiraiya frowned at the thought of having to face the man.

And now Kusa was back on its way to becoming a powerful village. And as if that wasn't unnerving enough, they had good relationship with Oto. Of course, they denied allowing Orochimaru to masquerade as a Kusa genin during the Chūnin Exams, but that was politics.

As the Gama Sennin reached for his cup of tea, he stayed his hand, noticing a crack in the porcelain. His frown deepened; he did not consider himself to be very superstitious but suddenly he felt the urge to forego his usually detours and head straight back to Konoha to report what he knew.

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

Danzō's lone visible eye remained on Itachi as they continued to stare at one another. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked again as his operatives shifted in the shadows, ready to strike at a moment's notice – no, ready to strike in an _instant._ "Have you come to bring me the other eye? I know you have it."

Itachi's Sharingan eyes spiraled dangerously. "You know why I am here, Danzō," he replied.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Danzō said the name slowly with a hint of a disdain. "Such attachment is beneath you, Itachi."

"Sandaime-sama was very clear," Itachi said ignoring the remark. "My brother is off limits to you, now and forever. Whatever plans you have in motion after Sandaime-sama passes, forget about them."

Danzō maintained his calm composure but there was a hint of a sneer in response. "Shouldn't you be worried for your own health?" Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly and the old war hawk jumped on the opportunity. "Did you really think you could hide it forever?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, as if waiting for Danzō to reveal exactly what he knew. The war hawk leant on his case placing one hand on another with a thin smile of satisfaction. Itachi had not come to fight, and there would be no violence so long as he didn't instigate it. "I heard the rumours regarding your failing," Danzō began slowly. "They appear to have some merit to them."

Of course, anyone with access to kind of information he had would have heard the rumours regarding Uchiha Itachi's failing health. There were only so many S-ranked shinobi that walked the earth, and thus villages and other organisations took a particular interest in tracking their whereabouts (which was often impossible) and health. Often fearsome shinobi that had not yet reached that classification exploited used this information to track and kill S-rank shinobi whose reputation they could then usurp.

Itachi maintained his levelheadedness. "If you are so foolish enough to think I am no longer a threat, you will regret it."

He spoke the truth, the leader of Root knew. Itachi wouldn't have stormed the village if he wasn't.

"There are other methods of letting me know you are still a threat," Danzō replied coolly. "Why come to me directly? Did you want an excuse to see your brother? Such attachment is beneath you-"

"Rumours can be dangerous," Itachi cut him off with a hint of knowing in his voice. "More often than not, they turn out to be fake or inaccurate, but on occasion you find the truth."

"And that is?"

Itachi's eyes took a cold shine to them, brimming with cold and calculative restraint. "While I've been away, you took it upon yourself to pillage the corpses of my clansmen, and you used a traitor to this village to help implant them into you," he stated as his eyes shifted to Danzō's hidden arm. "_You disgust me._ I do not need these eyes to know it is true. Tell me, were their corpses even cold when you desecrated them?"

"Why let good tools go to waste?" Danzō challenged. "And did you not work with this traitor? What gives you the right to judge me, Itachi? You and I are no different."

Itachi glared at Danzō but he made no further comment on the matter. While Danzō was comfortable speaking openly in front of his minions, he was not. "Stay away from Uchiha Sasuke or I will end you and your entire organisation."

"I have no use for your younger brother," the Root leader stated simply. "He is _weak_… impulsive, ruled by his own fear and anger. He is nothing like you."

"You had no use for Shisui, only his eyes, which you took by force," Itachi snarled. He grew intolerant of seeing the warmonger already.

"You and Shisui were my greatest pupils," Danzō said with an underlying tone of disappointment. "Your father was wise to give you to me. If only he had done so sooner. Maybe things would have been different, maybe you would have one day taken over Root-"

"You betrayed my father like you betray everyone else. _You killed Shisui!_" Itachi burst out in a highly unusual show of anger.

With the emotional outburst came unpleasant memories.

_A young Itachi fell to the ground with a dull thud as his victor, a child only slightly older than him, stood over him with a kind face. "Are you OK, Itachi?"_

"_Is this what Fugaku was talking about when he spoke of the 'greatest talent the Uchiha has seen in generations'? Clearly, the Uchiha have fallen."_

_The older child scowled at the masked man standing next to a somewhat younger Danzō. In his eyes was a pair of fully matured Sharingan spiraling fiercely. "The Uchiha have not fallen! We are the elite descendants of the Uchiha Madara and-"_

"_And _this _child is supposed to be greatest since Madara? The boy can't even bring himself to fight you. He is far too soft to be a shinobi."_

_Shisui glared at masked man for a moment and then, turning to the younger boy, gave an encouraging smile. "Don't be afraid, little brother. I believe in you."_

"_Shisui-niisan…"_

Itachi blinked in an attempt to clear his head, forcing his mind to the present and focusing his anger at the man that had ruined his life. "You lie and deceive and kill for your own selfish goals, not for the good of the village. And the Uchiha were simply your pawns. You wanted us to revolt so you could take control, that is why you _helped_ my father prepare for years, but when the Sandaime found out, you were the first to call for our heads. You are a _user, _Danzō, and a _betrayer_. You used me and Shisui like you used my father and my clansmen, but you will _not _have Uchiha Sasuke!" As Itachi's voice gained volume, yellow-like chakra formed around his body, forming into a spectral body: the Susannoo.

The Uchiha Clan's strongest jutsu.

Several Root shinobi pounced before Danzō could tell them otherwise. Itachi hardly paid them any attention as he simply raised a hand and his spectral protector caught them mid-air with its three arms and immediately crushing them like insects.

"_Stand down._" Danzō remained cool despite the forcefulness in his tone. With a simple gesture of his hand, the operatives backed away. "Fugaku was a fool, easy to manipulate. His eagerness to avenge his great grandfather Uchiha Madara was his greatest weakness. Do you know the reason why he gave you to me?" Itachi gave no response, maintaining a steely expression. "Your father was stronger than most shinobi I have encountered, but he knew he could not properly train you, that he could not ensure you realised your _full potential._ He came to me instead, and I could see it in you the moment I first laid eyes on you as a child. You are killer, Itachi, and you _too_ are a betrayer. Your life is nothing but a lie, a fabrication of misguided nobleness. Earlier I said you and I are the same. However, there is one fundamental difference between you and I. Do you know what that difference is? _I know what I am. _I kill – _we kill_," he gestured to his operatives, "And we use others and we lie, and we do it without remorse because we know what this world truly is like. The one thing you and I have in common the most is our love for this village, Itachi. And if I could protect Konoha by setting the rest of the world on fire, _I would do it in a heartbeat._"

Silence reigned for what seemed an eternity to some of the operatives but in reality was only a few seconds. "You're a mad man living in a warped reality," Itachi said slowly and quietly. "You are dangerous, both to Konoha and the world. There would never be peace if you had your way, would there? You relish in war and violence, and what you fear, what you _truly _fear is losing your purpose in this hate filled world… You are a force truly evil, Danzō."

And then it was Danzō's turn to fall silent. As it dawned on Itachi what kind of man he truly was, Danzō deep down knew at least part of it was true. His greatest fear was losing his purpose, it was this fear that was his reason why he had made Konoha his purpose, his object of desire, protecting it was a life's work. It was a life of purpose. "Leave."

"Uchiha Sasuke-"

"Will not be touched," the warmonger cut off. "Leave," he repeated with a forceful tone.

Itachi gave no reply, merely glaring at Danzō, who knew killing him was the only thing on Itachi's mind. But he wouldn't, so long as he stayed away from his precious younger brother, Uchiha Itachi would be no threat, because he was a patriot, even now, and as much as he hated Root, he knew love for Konoha still, and acknowledged the necessity of it and men like Danzō. "I will stay away from your younger brother… but, in return, I want Uchiha Shisui's other eye."

In an instant, Itachi's eyes changed into the Mangekyō Sharingan, spinning wildly and out of control with unadulterated hatred. The air pressure shot up as his chakra climbed; Danzō remained unimpressed and impassive, only half expecting black flames to appear. "I will _not_ give you Shisui's eye," Itachi refused with hate and disgust in his voice. "You _will_ stay away from Uchiha Sasuke and you _will _honour our agreement once the Sandaime passes."

Danzō merely gave a sigh and light inclination of his head in dismissive manner. "It was worth a try," he remarked as he nodded to his nearest lieutenant. "Have everyone stand down. This meeting is over."

"Don't make me come back here, Danzō," Itachi warned as his Sussanoo receded and his body began to dissolve in a school of crows. "Stay away from Uchiha Sasuke."

-ooo-

(Tsunade VS Kisame)

An explosion of water rained a heavy downpour and Kisame slid back over the water, holding his lower ribs as he spat out a mouthful of blood. "To break three ribs and rupture one of my kidney with a single blow…" the Kiri nuke-nin vomited another mouthful of blood. "Clearly you haven't lost your touch." Samehada's hilt extended and wrapped around him lower abdomen, instantaneously healing his wounds.

Tsunade scowled at the shark-man. "Did you think you could just walk into my village and do as you please? If there is one thing I hate it's being underestimated."

From the sidelines several Konoha-nin could only marvel at their village leader's power. "Hokage-sama is amazing…"

Kisame gripped Samehada's hilt tightly as the blade began to screech with irritation. **"Gigigigigigi!" **It was clear the blade demanded sustenance.

"Don't be selfish now, Samehada. I'll feed you soon enough," Kisame chastised with a beleaguered frown. "That is quite a troublesome form of taijutsu, Sannin no Tsunade," he said to the Hokage. "You release your chakra quicker than Samehada can absorb it. It's fortunate you can't keep it up for long, your blows have become weaker."

Tsunade smiled thinly. "What makes you think I've been using chakra?" From appearance alone it was clear she was not bluffing. **(1)**

Kisame nearly did a double take. "You mean to say you stopped using your chakra-enhanced strength?" In the back of his mind, the shark-man cursed himself. 'Of course! If she had continued to use her chakra-enhanced strength, Samehada would've eventually been able to read the timing of her release… But what kind of inhuman strength does this woman possess? I had heard of your monstrous natural strength but this is unbelievable, Tsunade of the Sannin!'

"I haven't been using chakra for a while now," Tsunade confirmed with a mocking smile. Even in old age her sense of superiority would resurface now and then. "You are my enemy so I won't indulge you with the details, but I will tell you this: my chakra enhanced strength _has no limitations or drawbacks._ The reason I stopped using it is the same reason why you can't absorb my chakra on proximity."

Kisame's eyes widened as he suddenly realised why Samehada had been unable to steal the Hokage's chakra. "I can't be…! You cut off your own chakra pathway system?"

"Orochimaru isn't the only one capable of kinjutsu," Tsunade stated as she sharpened her stance. "You won't be able to take a drop of my chakra. Eventually you will run out from healing your own wounds and you will die."

"Tche!" Kisame swung Samehada angrily and rested it on his shoulder. "We shall see-!"

A crow came soaring towards the swordsman, resting his other shoulder. It looked at him once, cawing as though communicating and set off to the sky. Kisame forced a confident grin and lowered his blade. "Looks like we'll have to finish this another time, Hokage."

Before Tsunade could close into him the swordsman slammed his hands together to weave a hand seal. "Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!" Water surrounded the swordsman in the form of a shark, and moment later the river itself began to swirl beneath the swordsman. "Suiton: Mizumyaku Same Hōka!"

(Jutsu: Mizumyaku Same Hōka - Water Pulse Shark Rocket)

And before anyone could stop him, the water in the river shot upwards like a fierce explosion, towering several dozen feet in the air and propelling the swordsman conjured shark like a rocket.

Tsunade clenched her fists, turning to the nearest ANBU operative. "Tenzō!"

He was by her side in an instant. "Your orders?"

"Assemble a team and go after him. He's heading north from here towards the Naka River meaning Itachi must have told him about the underwater passages used by the Marine Division. Make sure he doesn't get there before you do."

"Understood."

Tsunade gave a nod in response. "Be careful, and dismissed!"

-ooo-

"Is there?" Naruto repeated the question. "If Orochimaru's juin is causing this then-"

"Naruto!" Sasuke reached over and grabbed the blond by his shirt. "Mind your own business. I won't tell you again!"

Naruto opened mouth to respond but lost his words as he found half of Sasuke's faced covered in black marks. "Itachi is mine to kill," Sasuke said as he pushed him aside. "If you get in the way of my ambition, _I'll kill you too._"

"Fine, then be my guest and go ahead!" Naruto shouted back angrily. "You want to fight him on your own? You want to get revenge? He's right there. Go fight him!"

Sasuke snarled at him before turning to Itachi again. "I don't need you to tell me that!" As Sasuke began to weave hand seals, the Fūja Hōin on his back exuded a reddish hue as it began to pulsate similarly to the beating of a heart.

"You're out of your mind, Sasuke." Naruto knew there was no stopping his former teammate, who had clearly meant what the said about killing him if he stood in his way. "Damn it, why do you have to be troublesome? Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

In quick succession four clones burst into existence and seized the young Sharingan wielder, disrupting his jutsu as the original dashed forward, weaving hand seals of his own. 'Sasuke is no condition to fight right now. He'll get us both killed if I don't do something.' Concluding his final hand seal, Naruto dispatched four chakra-coated kunai and followed up with a torrent of flames, augmenting the lethality of his projectiles.

As expected, Itachi dissolved into crows against, using his familiars to mask his Shunshin. This time Naruto knew what to do however. There was a certain pattern Itachi stuck to when using his Shunshin, Naruto had noticed. It was rather straightforward and simple, but very effective nonetheless.

'He'll come at me from the right…' Naruto thought as he twirled another kunai in his hand, making sure to attach an exploding tag to it. As if mocking him, the crows continued to caw and flap their wings loudly, it irritated him, but he refused to let it distract him. If he did, there was a good chance he'd be pulled into another genjutsu, and given his own mediocrity with illusions and Sasuke's frame of mind, he wasn't so sure he could come back from that. Raising a one-handed tiger seal, Naruto prepared a Doryū Taiga. 'He's going to come from my right. I know it.'

"Did you think it would be that easy?" a voice said from his left.

Naruto's eyes widened for a second, but he willed himself to swing his kunai. Itachi caught his wrist with minimal effort and seized his face before he could spit out his the volume of hardening mud. "I deliberately led you to believe there was a certain pattern to my Shunshin," Itachi revealed as he exerted more power of his grip causing the blond to flinch in pain whilst he tried to push the Akatsuki member off with his free hand to no avail.

"Itachi!" Sasuke screamed, as he finally broke free with a burst of lightning from the Chidori, destroying the clones as he flew at Itachi.

Itachi flung Naruto like a ragdoll toward his younger brother. "Foolish little brother, you are predictable," he said as Sasuke ducked under the flying blond and charged forward.

"Die!" the younger Uchiha screamed as he stabbed as his brother.

Much to his own disbelief, Itachi once again intercepted his attack, grapping his wrist. For a moment Sasuke feared he would be once again be on the receiving end of his own jutsu.

"You lack many things," Itachi said as he forced Sasuke's wrist to the sky. "You lack patience and self control, but most of all, _you lack hatred._" Wide-eyed, Sasuke felt _fear _of such magnitude he could hardly breathe, much less speak. "I will show you true _hatred_, foolish little brother," Itachi told him as his eyes began to change into the Mangekyō Sharingan. '_Tsukiyomi!_'

And just like that, Sasuke's form slumped and the Chidori died out along with the receding markings of the Cursed Seal of Heaven.

Naruto's eyes widened in fear as he saw Itachi cast his brother aside. "Sasuke!" There was no response, not even a single twitch, prompting the jinchūriki to fear the worst. This couldn't possibly be happening. No, he refused to believe it. "O- Oi, Sasuke! Get up! This isn't the time to be… sleeping… Sasuke?"

"He was weak," Itachi said as he focused his attention on the jinchūriki. "Weak and foolish. He would not have survived for long in this world. I did him a kindness."

"Sasuke's… dead?"

Itachi say anything, nor did he need to. His body language conveyed it just fine.

Sasuke was _dead_.

Naruto didn't say a word as he picked himself up and slowly walked past the older Uchiha, whose eyes followed him curiosity. As he knelt by his rival's unmoving body Naruto simply stared at him. 'He's not breathing… is he?' Strangely enough, his mind felt cleared from distractions. It was as if all of his fears and background thoughts were shoved past. It was an experience similar to his initial Jinchūriki Mode but different in a way he couldn't quite describe. It felt as though he had gone numb from all the pain, as though his mind had checked out of reality in utter disbelief. He felt nothing, yet that nothingness stung, he felt numb, yet he felt as though he had an insurmountable and immovable weight on his chest. He wanted to both cry and laugh for some odd reason. He didn't quite know what he wanted to do. 'Is this grief?' he wondered as his vision blurred. "I guess that decides it…"

Itachi turned his head slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked calmly.

Naruto ran the back of his hand across his eyes as he folded Sasuke's arms over his chest. "I'm going to kill you," he said in a voice so empty of he wasn't so sure belonged to him anymore. "For him."

"Is that so?" Itachi replied as calmly as usual as the blond stood up. "Then come, you will soon join him."

Just as he said it, Naruto disappeared by means of a Shunshin powered by so much chakra even Itachi seemed notably surprised by it. Not enough to prevent him from catching Naruto's punch, but enough so to slower his reaction time that he actually felt pain shoot through his arm from the sheer force of the blow.

Even in the state he was, Naruto managed to crack a small smile, though it was so devoid of mirth even a seasonable shinobi would feel a shiver run down their spine. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he suddenly found both their hands covered in mud. "Not even you will be able to survive this," Naruto stated as he help up a fist full of explosive notes. "I may be joining Sasuke soon, but at the very least I'll take you with me!"

"Are you insane?" How Itachi managed to maintain his composure was beyond the blonde's understanding.

"So even you are afraid of dying, huh?" Naruto mocked as the exploding tags began to glow. "Well, too bad!"

A bright light preceded an explosion which sound carried several miles.

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

Rei maintained her stance as she began to close in on the Itachi-clone, mindful of the fact that, presuming this was a Kage Bunshin, she would only have to land one, direct blow to dispel it.

"Your form is adequate but you will not succeed," Itachi's clown warned her.

Rei regarded the warning and pounced, aiming a kick to the where the clone's cervical vertebrae would be, just as she had been thought. What happened next was not unforeseeable, but no less shocking, as the clone easily saw through her attack, turning it on her, and slamming her to a nearby tree with enough force to knock the air right out of her lungs.

"I warned you," the clone reminded as he levelled a kunai to her neck, specifically above an artery that would undoubtedly prove fatal if it were cut. "You are one of Danzō's tools, that much I know simply from looking at you," the Itachi-clone stated. "I have some questions for you."

Rei's expression remained completely and utterly blank, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Not even fear. "Judging from your counter, you're familiar with Root taijutsu. You are one of us."

"I _was_ one of you," Itachi's clone corrected.

"There are no _former_ Root members," the young kunoichi replied with a firm shake of her head. "You are one of us."

The clone ignored her defiance. "I have some questions for you."

"I cannot answer them," Rei stated as she stuck out her tongue, upon which the silencing seal of Danzō was present. "Even if I wanted to, I could not give you the answers you seek."

Itachi showed something reminiscent of wry smile. "You underestimate me," the Sharingan-user said as his eyes began to spiral. The clone took a step back and began to weave hand seals. "_Do not move._"

Knowing it would be futile to attempt to escape, Rei did as he told her. "What are you going to do me?"

Rather than answering her, the clone _showed_ her. **"**Juin Kai: Mangekyō Shūsshō!**" **Before the kunoichi could react, the clone reached out with a hand covered in black fūin markings and placed it on her forehead.

(Juin Kai: Mangekyō Shūshō – Cursed Seal Release: Kaleidoscope Release From Prison)

As soon as he touched her, an _intense_ pain shot through Rei's brain, and continued to thrash throughout her body without mercy or consideration. She didn't even try to hold in her screams as the pain was unreal. It was unbearable and torturous and it came with foulness beyond anything she had ever experienced. She wanted a release as the pain intensified.

She wanted to die.

And then, as soon as it happened, the pain melted away and Rei fell to her knees, exhausted, but still conscious – _barely._

"To maintain consciousness through that, Root's conditioning must be even more rigorous than I remember," the Itachi-clone noted as he stood over her. "Now then, let us talk."

"What did you do to me?" Rei asked in a voice so raspy and wrung with pain she hardly recognized it as her own. "What was that?"

"I did you a kindness," Itachi answered simply. "Now, will you answer my questions willingly or must I subjugate your mind once more?"

Rei weighed her options for a long, tense moment. She was still in pain, her entire body ached as though she had been crushed by a tree, but this did not hamper her ability think clearly. For the time being, she was not capable of fighting, but fortunately Itachi had no apparent intention to kill her. "What do you want to know?"

For a moment the nuke-nin looked surprised. "That was easier than expected," he noted with a hint of surprise. "I had thought you would need some more convincing."

"If I don't tell you willingly, you will make me, and then you will kill me. My chances of survival are significantly higher if I cooperate," Rei said without so much a hint of indignation. "I am of no use to Danzō-sama in death."

Itachi gave her an appraising look. Danzō's other tools would surely have tried resisted, perhaps even committed suicide. "What is your assignment? Is it Uzumaki Naruto?"

There was a noticeable pause before she answered. "Yes," she said simply. "My mission is Uzumaki Naruto."

Then Itachi's questions took a sudden turn. "Are you with Uzumaki under Danzō's orders?"

"I…" Rei was stunned, obviously caught off guard by the question. "Danzō-sama has operatives in most departments and divisions. I was planted in the Nijū Shōtai before he was assigned to it. When we were assigned to the same team, my handler ordered me to get close to Uzumaki. He… _strongly_ advised I became more than friends with him."

For a moment Itachi processed the bit of information, making no further comment on her relationship with the jinchūriki. "Why the Nijū Shōtai?" he then asked.

"I do not know," Rei answered truthfully. "My handlers never give me specifics."

"You know something," the clone stated with a knowing look. "_Speak._"

"I think it has something to do with Akatsuki. Not long after I was stationed there, you became our focus. I believe Danzō-sama anticipated this and wanted eyes and ears on the platoon's efforts."

"I see… Prior to the Nijū Shōtai, where were you stationed?"

"I spent most of time in Kusa," Rei answered promptly. "I did work there as a medic and interrogation assistance."

"Where else have you been stationed?"

Itachi's inquisitiveness was unexpected, but she answered the question as promptly as the others. "Cha no Kuni, Tsuchi no Kuni and Ame no Kuni mostly."

"Root operates mostly outside of Konoha. When did Danzō have you pushed through the system?"

"Recently," she answered with a certain vagueness the clone immediately picked up on.

"Where are you from?" Itachi's eyes shined with curiosity. To him, she was like a puzzle that became more interesting as he put the pieces together. With every question answered his impression of her changed.

This was clearly a question she did not want to answer, if her expression was anything to go by. Her reluctance only increased his intrigue. "Answer the question."

"I was recruited out of an orphanage in the countryside," she revealed after a tense moment of silence. "I was told my family is originally from Yu no Kuni but I never knew them, they abandoned me on the road when I was too young to remember. I was found by a sisterhood of priestesses and they took me in. They ran an orphanage in the countryside, where they raised me and my sister."

"I know of that orphanage," Itachi revealed with a cold tone she knew was not for her. "It is subsidized by Root in return for occasionally recruiting children fit to be his shinobi. Your sister, is she alive?"

Rei clenched her fists, sensing he was alluding to something else, something sinister. "What are you asking me?" she demanded.

"_Did you kill your sister?_" Itachi asked in a voice so cold, Rei's insides turned into ice. "Danzō usually recruits in pairs but only ever becomes a true Root operative. In other words, he has them fight to the death. Did you kill your sister?"

"No!" Rei said hotly as she found her voice again. "I could never do such a thing to my sister!"

"You were lucky," Itachi said to her with a voice so cold, it was as though he was thinking of unpleasant times. "What happened to your sister? Is she still active in the field?"

The kunoichi shook her head. "No."

Itachi turned his head with curiosity. "Danzō let her quit?" He sounded doubtful to say the least. There was no leaving Root, not unless you were powerful enough to be a threat to Danzō.

"She's on indefinite leave."

"What does your sister do, is she a medic like you?"

Rei glared at the rogue ninja. "Why are you so interested in my sister? She has nothing to do with this."

"_Answer the question,_" Itachi commanded forcefully.

"My sister is a seductress," Rei answered with a glare. There was clear reluctance and resentment in her voice and eyes. "During her last assignment, she became pregnant with the target's child. She was given permission to go on indefinite leave and raise it."

"Your eyes betray your guilt," Itachi stated. "Why do you feel guilt over your sister?"

Rei didn't know what it was, maybe it was her fatigue, or perhaps it was the almost sympathetic tone in Itachi's voice, but whatever it was, it made it easy for her to answer the question. "It should have been me."

Itachi understood her immediately.

"My sister, even though we're not related by blood, she has always been there for me," Rei said quietly. "She taught me how to be a medic," the young kunoichi gave her a mirthless smile, "She was always better than I was, probably still is. Then one day, when we were still in training, the handlers had all the girls assemble. There was a mission that needed to be done, and the target... the target had a preference for _young_ girls. I was the youngest, so they picked me. I didn't want to do it, but no matter how much I begged and cried, they wouldn't listen. Then my sister... she _volunteered_ for the mission. She is only two years older than me, she was just a child, but she wasn't afraid. And she was good at it, so they kept assigning her to those missions. But she never once complained, my sister. She never once blamed me..."

"Never underestimate the lengths siblings will go through for another," Itachi said finally in a quiet voice that matched her own. He then turned around and began to walk in a different direction. "Your secret is safe with me."

"You're letting me go?"

"I have no reason not to."

Rei frowned, confused and once again caught off guard. "You're not like the rumours describe you. You're different."

The Itachi-clone paused midstride. "Danzō is not a kind man," it then said. "He knows no kindness or compassion, only pragmatism. One day he will have use again for your sister or her child and he will come for them. See to it you repay your sister's kindness."

Before Rei could even answer, the clone burst into a pillar of smoke, leaving her alone in the woods.

A moment later she collapsed to the ground, where she remained unmoving for quite some time.

-ooo-

(Naruto VS Itachi)

Naruto's open his eyes slowly as his ears rung painfully. He coughed numerous times as he crawled to his feet, covered in dirt and soot and the smell of burnt wood in his nostrils. His entire body ached as though he had lost a wrestling match against Gamabunta. 'What happened?' He had been certain the explosive notes had gone off… how was he still alive? He could only wonder as he wiped the back of his hand over his forehead in an effort to clear the soot.

A rustling sound prompted him to snap his eyes to the source. As soon as his eyes fell on Itachi, his eyes widened. While unhurt, Itachi's eyes were settled in a dark glare that sought to it the young jinchūriki experienced a magnitude of fear that kept him planted where he was.

Itachi did not say a word as he closed the distance between them in an instant and struck the blond with such force he solidly decked him through a tree. Naruto held his ribs and coughed blood. Pain coursed through his body but he refused to give it voice, determined to die on his feet as he once again stood up defiantly albeit shakily.

And again Itachi was upon him, this time appearing mid-air as he aimed kick against Naruto's face. Naruto raised his forearm in an attempt to block it, but the sheer force behind the kick saw to it he not only felt shin connect to his jaw but that his shoulder popped out of its socket.

"Ah-!" Naruto grit his teeth as he bound off a tree and fell to his knees, face buried in the dirt as he tightly gripped his swollen shoulder from which his arm dangled in an unnatural angle. He suppressed another cry, saliva overflowing from his mouth and biting his lips hard enough they began to bleed. "Fuck you!" Naruto managed to utter as he got to his feet again.

Itachi's hand shot out at a speed he couldn't follow and gripped his neck tightly, slowly crushing his windpipe and easily lifting him off the ground in a show of deceptive strength. "I misspoke earlier. _You are weak._"

Naruto responded with spitting blood on the Uchiha's face. He did not regret the powerful punch that dug under his ribs in retaliation. "Fu..ck… you."

"At the level you are now, it would be far too easy to kill you." Itachi ignored the look of confusion in his prey's eyes. "I cannot truly test my limits on a weakling such as you."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto managed as he struggled to breathe.

Itachi relieved his tight grip on his windpipe, though only a little. "I wish to see the limits of these eyes," Itachi said as his eyes spun menacingly. "That is the only reason I let Sasuke live. His potential is the _only_ reason I spared him."

"Then why did you kill him?" Naruto screamed as tears stung at his eyes and his eyes once again turned red. "_Why_ did you have to kill him? Tell me!"

"You too have the potential to become a powerful shinobi one day," Itachi said as he ignored him. "I will spare you today so that one day you can come before me and challenge me once more."

"I'll kill you!" Naruto vowed in a raspy voice. "I'll rip your fucking eyes out and shove them down your throat you bastard!"

To his surprise, Itachi gave a mocking smile. "That's the spirit," he said as he dropped the jinchūriki and turned on his heel to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to his chest, sending him crashing into a particularly thick tree. "I will come for you, Uzumaki Naruto. _We_ will come for you."

"Akatsuki…" Naruto realised.

"Yes. _Akatsuki._" The Sharingan genius nodded. "The only reason I joined them was for the opportunity to test the full extent of my abilities. Our leader has instructed us to stay away for now, but I will come for you, Uzumaki Naruto. And if not me, there will be others. For as long as you live, _Akatsuki_ will never let you know peace."

"What do you people want from me?" Naruto realised the answer to his own question before the Uchiha could answer. "The Kyūbi?"

Itachi felt neither the need to confirm or deny it. "_Prepare yourself_, Uzumaki Naruto. And as a reminder, I will show you a _fraction_ of the hell that awaits you," he added as he knelt before him and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look him in his eyes. "Tsukiyomi!"

Naruto's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he slumped against the tree, unconscious.

Suddenly, Itachi clapped his hand over his eye. He breathed heavily and grit his teeth through the pain. 'To think he managed to destroy my clone. I shouldn't have underestimated him.'

The rogue ninja almost let out a cry of pain as his eyes and body wracked with pain so intense it would have killed an ordinary man several times over. How Itachi managed to preserve was a mystery, but he did. There was not much time for him to tend to his pain, as Itachi rose to his full height and turned to the direction he sensed two newcomers coming from.

"You're not one to go wild like this, Itachi-kun." Sarutobi Hiruzen said calmly. He was dressed in his red and white garb sans the hat and his face was held with an unreadable expression.

The Sharingan wielder briefly looked to the retired Hokage's companion, Kosuke, who nodded to him in a sort of greeting and a show of understanding.

Itachi then kneeled before the Sandaime and bowed his head. "Hokage-sama."

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

The sound of battle raged like a beast in the dark and poorly lit corridors of the underground labyrinths. Oto shinobi in purple shinobi garb dashed through the halls in formation.

"You, inform Orochimaru-sama Akatsuki's forces are attacking!" said the jōnin charge to one of the shinobi running beside him. "Go! Go now!"

The shinobi merely nodded and divided into another ally just an explosion rocked the corridors. Chips of ceiling fell down, screaming and more explosions followed. The sound of fire sucking the oxygen out of the air alerted the ninja of the flames flying down the dark halls.

"Scatter!"

The sounds of metal upon metal continued in the dark halls. Every few or so moments the sounds of death rattles and screams sounded.

-ooo-

(?)

When Naruto opened his eyes, he wasn't so sure he had, for the world was dark and indiscernible. The sky was dark and the moon was red like blood and everything else was either pure white or pure darkness. "Where am I?"

His voice echoed into the infinity.

"You are in a world of my creation."

It was then that Naruto noticed he was bound to a crucifix. "Itachi!"

"I will show you your greatest nightmares."

The blond struggled fiercely against his bindings but found them to be impossible to loosen. "Where are you? Show yourself, you BASTARD!" Only his eyes and mouth were free, but it mattered hardly.

Crows cawed provocatively, as though they were trying to give rise to his anger.

"You have not suffered enough to become truly powerful, Uzumaki Naruto."

It was then that Itachi appeared. His eyes were like red moons and stared right at his soul.

"You will suffer." There was no question whether that was going to happen by the looks of it. "And through you suffering you will find _hatred_." There was a pause. "And through hatred you will find _power_."

"Shut up!" Naruto screamed at him. "Let me go, you-!"

And then there was another voice.

_"Naruto… you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering."_

His eyes widened as he slowly began to turn his head. Why was that voice so familiar? Why did his heart suddenly start to ache?

_"Remember who you are! Find a goal… a dream… and don't stop trying until it comes true."_

And then he saw her, bathed in light.

And she was beautiful in a way he had never thought possible. Her hair was long and red, and her eyes were a shade of violet prettier than any gem. Her skin was slightly pale and smooth. She was still young. Far too young.

_"There's… there's so much more I want to say… to teach you… I want to stay with you…"_

"_What the fuck is this?_" His voice was gruff and his throat hurt as he felt tears stinging behind his eyes. This woman… he knew who she was. _Why did he know her?_ "You son of a bitch." He could not tear his eyes from her.

Itachi's expression remained unreadable and his eyes as calculative as before. "Something happened to you when you were a new-born," he said emotionlessly. "Something so terrible you mind repressed for all these years. I will show you the horrors you have hidden away from yourself."

The woman smiled. _"Naruto…"_

"Make it stop…" he begged as tears began to fall. "Just… stop… _please…_"

_"I love you."_

There was no stopping the cascade of tears now. And Naruto cried, _truly cried_, for the first time in years. He remembered her.

He remembered her from that night. He remembered everything from that night. And so he sobbed and cried without neither the will nor capacity to hold back his sorrow. "Kaachan…"

"You remember," Itachi observed. "Good." And then he motioned his hand.

A gargantuan claw tore through Uzumaki Kushina. She screamed, louder than anyone Naruto had ever screamed. _And it broke his heart._

The Kyūbi's eye loomed over Kushina as he growled with hatred in his eyes. It did not speak, nor did its eyes show any remorse of what its claws were doing.

Uzumaki Kushina's screams continued for days as the scenario relapses over and over. And her son watched, over and over as his mother was ripped to shreds in front of him, her life snubbed out like a dim candlelight, only to be relit for a few more moments. It was an illusion, yet Naruto knew it was real.

He knew that, though Itachi had somehow managed to bring forth his worst nightmare, that this was not all there was too it. But it did not matter because it looked real and it felt real.

For seventy-two hours, Uzumaki Naruto relived the death of his mother.

And by the end of it, Uzumaki Naruto was truly and utterly _broken._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

I know what you're thinking, "ANOTHER CLIFFY, REALLY?" – I make no apologies for that because it's good story telling. And because I'm evil. But mostly because of the story telling thing.

This certainly wasn't my best chapter and it is shorter than usual but I got a lot on my plate so cut me some slack!

Now then, what do you guys think about the revelations regarding Rei? I decided to take a page out of Kishi's book with her and gave her sister – you'll meet her soon enough. She won't take up a lot of attention but she'll be imperative to Rei's character development.

And to the people _still _complaining about Naruto VS Sasuke, answer me this: at what point did this Naruto have the time to actually train his taijutsu? Since the start of this story, he has constantly been on one mission after the other, managing to find time only to improve his ninjutsu – which he's been able to advance in by and large due to his clones. Though he's focused mostly on ninjutsu, he has still gotten faster and smarter, but not by so much he can go hand-to-hand and still win against someone of Lee/Sasuke's caliber without taking more hits than he is landing. Don't forget that this Naruto is supposed to grow at a believable rate.

OK, that's it for me. Until next time. And in the meanwhile, try some of that The Uzumaki Descendant stuff!

**Notes**

**(1)** For those who don't know, Tsunade has monstrous strength without her chakra.


	16. Chapter 16: Turning Point

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 19-11-12_

**_16 chapters and over 600,000 hits! That's pretty damn awesome._**

**_A bit of quick update, but I'm always eager to publish my work once it's done. Also, I'm looking for some beta readers, so if anyone is interested, drop me a PM or mention it in a review! I also accept casual PMs that point out my errors and other discrepancies, so if you're not looking for something long term and want to show me how big of an idiot I am, have at it. Having said that, I proofed this chapter myself but I'm dense as fuck, so go figure._**

**_Oh, and once you're done here, how about giving The Uzumaki Descendant a try and review (still looking for a new title by the way)._**

**_EDIT: There was something odd with the updating but it ought to be fixed now._**

* * *

><p>CH16: Turning Point<p>

* * *

><p>(Undisclosed Location)<p>

Tsunade stared over folded hands as she and several others of Konoha's highest ranking shinobi sat in a half circle in a dark, barely lit room facing a wall of large TV monitors, through which the Daimyō and his delegates appeared to be addressing them.

_"This is outrageous, Hokage-dono!"_

The Godaime heard and listened but her mind was not entirely there. And who could blame her? It had only mere hours since two notorious S-ranked ninja had infiltrated her village and wrecked havoc.

_"… and not only have Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame escaped, in doing so they have cast untold magnitude of shame and humiliation upon our country! Do you comprehend the severity of this, Hokage-dono?"_

"That I do, minister," Tsunade responded coolly. She understood the severity of her situation without the incessant belligerence of the Daimyō's lackeys.

Under her watch, Konoha had been infiltrated, and under her watch, two dozen shinobi were now out of commission for the meanwhile, including Hatake Kakashi, one of her greatest shinobi, and the last of the Uchiha as well as the village's jinchūriki. And to make matters worse, Itachi and Kisame had _escaped _their pursuers.

The political fallout had yet to form but incidents like these did not go unnoticed and soon enough it would be reported on an international level. Humiliation would be the least of their concerns. The loss of clientele is where they would hurt.

_"Who is in charge of the ANBU?" _one pugnacious minister demanded to know. He had tiny eyes and a square jaw and appeared to have once been a fighter once, an army general perhaps.

Tsunade merely turned to the woman on the far left of the half circle. A spotlight promptly turned on her. At her nod, Yugao answered.

"ANBU Operative 309, codename Cat at your service." The purple-haired kunoichi spoke in a calm tone that betrayed no apprehension.

One of the more plump members of cabinet sneered. _"A woman?" _he spat as though it wasn't obvious. _"What is this nonsense?"_

"I advise you to not forget your place, Sadaijin-dono," Tsunade warned mildly, her eyes still in an unreadable stare and her chin hidden behind folded hands.

_"And I advise you to do the same, Hokage-dono!" _the Minister of the Left spat with a derisive snort. As the second highest-ranking member of the government (including the Daimyō), he was a powerful man, comfortable enough with his position to challenge the Hokage. The Sadaijin turned to Yugao and grumbled under his breath. _"On with it then, woman. Tell us how you lost track of Uchiha Itachi and his compatriot."_

To her credit, the ANBU commander did not show any visible signs of irritation and answered promptly. "Upon being briefed on the situation, I dispatched one-third of available ANBU operatives to apprehend Uchiha Itachi. Unfortunately, we were unable to keep track of them for long due to Uchiha Itachi's familiarity with the land and our ways of conduct. We lost them twk hours into our search. The Marine Division is not under my command, but their preliminary report indicates Hoshigaki had an unbeatable speed advantage in the water."

_"Thank you for the good work!"_ the Minister of the Left said in a mocking tone. _"This is unacceptable. Our allies and enemies will think us weaker because of this!"_

Several other members of the Daimyō's cabinet quickly fell in line with the Sadaijin. The Lord of the Land of Fire continued to hide behind his fan as he simply observed the discussions.

"If I may interject," Naru Shikaku spoke with a nod to his Hokage. "This attack is unprecedented and was, in my opinion as the head of Konoha's strategic department, entirely unforeseeable. Since he left the village, Itachi has not once given us reason to believe he held such ill will for Konoha."

_"Are you not shinobi, Nara-dono?" _questioned the Minister of the Right. _"Are you not trained to expect the unexpected?"_

"Yes, we are, Udaijin-dono," Shikaku answered with a mild frown. "However, there are some things no amount of preparation or planning will prepare you for. It could have been a lot worse."

_"You shinobi have become complacent!" _the Udaijin accused with a glint in his eyes. _"We already suffered through the Sound-Suna invasion, we agreed to abide by the emergency stimulus clauses set by the Shodai and we have continued to support your village, however in doing so, you have taken us for fools. Perhaps some sanctions are in order?" _The last was not so much directed at the shinobi as it was the other members of government, many of whom began to nod and voice their support.

"With respect, Udaijin-dono, that would be unwise," Shikaku interjected calmly as on one would expect of the clan head. "We are just about fully recovered from the invasion. Missions requests are on the rise and so is the economy now that we have men to spare to secure our nation's export and import alongside with the navy and other military branches."

_"It never fails to baffle me how you shinobi are incapable of comprehending the full ramifications of incidents such as these. Our Daimyō's judgment has already been called into question upon appointing Senju-dono to Hokage after she spent years dilly-dallying about in a drunken stupor. How do you suppose-"_

"Enough," Tsunade cut off the minister with assertive tone. "Daimyō-sama," she said as she addressed the feudal lord directly. "Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame's actions will not go unpunished. That, I assure you with confidence. As we speak, our border patrol guard, ANBU and Hunter-nin are collaborating to fan out and locate the two, and by now, the Marine Division has set out to sea in case they try to leave by water. Our efforts will not relent until we find them and they are made to pay for what they have done."

That seemed to do it, or at least take the bickering government officials out of their momentum.

_"I move we increase the bounty for Uchiha Itachi and add a new one for Hoshigaki Kisame,"_ the Minister of the Left called boisterously. _"Last I checked Uchiha Itachi's bounty was at twelve million ryō. Why not double it?" **(1)**_

_"Here, here!"_

_"I concur!"_

_"Triple it! Let this wretched traitor live the rest of his days being hunted like an animal!"_

_"And what of Hoshigaki?"_

_"At the very least he warrants a fifteen million ryō bounty. Though I suspect Water Country easily offers double that last I checked."_

Tsunade kept her eyes on the Daimyō, as did the others once the room quieted down when the feudal lord lowered his gold and crimson fan adorned with gold dragons and fiery waves.

_"The price for Uchiha Itachi's head will be forty million ryō, and that of his companion shall be thirty-five."_

At this, even some of the more enthusiastic cabinet delegates were shocked. _"Your lordship, if Uchiha and Hoshigaki are simultaneously eliminated, that will cost the treasury a final sum of _seventy-five million ryō_! Is that not a tad excessive?"_

The Lord of Fire was rarely anything but airheaded, impatient and impulsive, but there were times were he conducted himself with such regal dignity, no one could deny him. _"Excessive? I think not! Our enemies abroad think us weak. They believe they can come and go as they please. I am sick of being taken lightly! One of my greatest military strongholds has been attacked twice in less than a year. What is to stop them from storming the capital next? No, minister, I do not believe seventy-five million is excessive at all."_

At once, the feudal lord's members of cabinet fell in line and voiced their approval and support.

_"Good," _the Daimyō drawled as he averted his calculative gaze to Tsunade once more. _"See to it the 'bango books' or whatever you call them are updated and make sure of it news of their increased bounties are out there."_

Tsunade looked to Yugao and nodded once. As ANBU commander, it fell upon her to collaborate with department heads to make new additions to the Hidden Leaf's bingo book. "As you wish, Daimyō-sama."

_"Now then, can anyone here explain to my why Uchiha Itachi returned to Konoha? As I recall, the price on his head was as relatively low as it was because he appeared to be no threat. Clearly this assessment was wrong."_

_"Complacency, my lord, I say to you!"_

_"Indeed!"_

Tumultuous debate threatened to erupt; Tsunade was more worried with the unusual silence coming from Danzō, Koharu and Homura. They were usually eager to speak in front of the Daimyō. 'They're awfully quiet…'

It was at that moment when the shinobi present turned to the source of new chakra signatures.

"If I may interject, Daimyō-sama," Sarutobi Hiruzen said as he stepped into view in the light. "There are only a few people who can answer that question."

_"Hiruzen-dono!"_ the Daimyō lit up with childlike enthusiasm at the sight of his former Hokage. _"How are you, old friend? I thought you bedridden."_

Yugao stood up wordlessly seat and stood next to Rooster as the Sandaime took her seat. "I am doing much better now, thank you for asking."

_"You say you have the answer I seek?"_

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Hiruzen acknowledged with a grim expression on his wrinkled face. "However, I believe this information should only be heard by you and the Ministers of Right and Left."

_"Well then, please do, old friend!"_

Tsunade's eyes widened for a moment only to narrow immediately after as Hiruzen shot her an apologetic look. Whatever he had to say, it couldn't be good.

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital)

Sakura loomed over Sasuke with soft eyes as she sat down a vase with fresh flowers. Her mind was still trying to figure out what had happened the day before.

Sasuke's brother had returned. And though she heard conflicting stories, the kin-slayer had come for Naruto of all people, for a reason she had yet to uncover. Much to her confusion, a lot of the older shinobi seemed to know something but hushed up once they noticed her. "At some point, Sasuke had showed up, presumably to apologise to Naruto at first but later to fight his older brother. It was only now that she realised that the "certain someone" Sasuke had vowed to kill was noneother than his own brother, Itachi. What is going on?" she wondered out loud.

She felt ashamed she knew so little about her crush. She had always desired him for his cool personality and his looks, but it was only _now_, nearly a year after being placed on the same team, that she actually began to know him.

The rosette gazed for a moment longer and then turned to the other side of the room where a certain blond lay in his bed. He was even more of an enigma than the young Uchiha.

'Who do people hate you so much, Naruto?' It couldn't merely be because of his delinquent history. Sakura hated herself for ever having thought it to be so simple in the first place.

She had seen the hatred and the disgust in the eyes of some of the other shinobi in the village yesterday. There was far more too it than mere pranks. And whatever it was, Sakura doubted it was the blonde's fault. Loud and obnoxious he may have been at times, but she knew Naruto well enough to know he wasn't violent or cruel. If anything, he was nicer than most people. In fact, thinking back to the early days of her childhood up until Naruto's promotion, he had always looked out for her. He was always there for her when she needed him.

"I never really thanked you, did I, Naruto?" she said in a whisper as she stood by the blonde's bedside. If she had to be honest, the rosette felt like crying, but she refused to let it be about her. Instead, she reached out for the unconscious boy's hand and squeezed it, a part of her childishly hoping he'd wake up because of it. "Thank you. For everything."

It was at that moment when the doors slid open. Sakura jumped and forced down the profanities she had on the tip of her tongue.

"Yo," Shikamaru greeted lazily as he entered the room with a newspaper folded under his arm. "What are you doing?

Sakura quickly pretended to be reading the chart and turned around to Shikamaru, holding it up with a forced smile. "Just taking a look."

"Aren't you ambitious? I heard you signed up for the field medic training they offered here. Ino's been talking about it for weeks."

"Yeah…" Sakura replied half-heartedly. She could tell from Shikamaru's look he knew what she was doing. "I don't know if this is for me though. It's really challenging and there's so much to learn." It was true. She had been weighing her commitment to the field of medical ninjutsu for a while now.

"Well, don't mind me," Shikamaru yawned as he drew a chair and plopped down next to the unconscious blonde's bed. "I'll just stick around for a while."

Sakura looked uneasy at that, and of course the perceptive shadow-user caught her look. "What is it?"

"The diagnosis isn't very hopeful they'll wake up any time soon," she replied with a glance to her chart. "Shizune-sensei told me that whatever Itachi did to the both of them has affected their _brains_. They're fine physically…"

"But they're not fine mentally," Shikamaru finished, to which she nodded. "I don't know about Sasuke, but Naruto's going to be fine in a day or two. He doesn't have much brains to begin with."

Sakura smiled weakly and adjusted the sunflowers on the stand next to the blonde's bed. She had picked them herself, believing they most resembled the sun-kissed teenager. "I guess so." She wandered back over to Sasuke's side and sat down with a knife and apple.

The two sat in silence for a good while, pretending to be preoccupied with what they were doing; Sakura nibbled on pieces of fruit while Shikamaru did the crosswords.

"Shikamaru…"

He didn't look up from his crossword puzzle but acknowledged her nonetheless. "What is it?"

"Do you… do you know why the adults hate Naruto?"

At this, the shadow-user _did _look up. "No," he answered much to her disappointment. "But I have some theories."

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

_"A double agent?" _the Daimyō repeated with an incredulous tone. _"Uchiha Itachi?"_

Hiruzen gave a simple nod, still maintaining his grave expression. "Yes, Daimyō-sama. Uchiha Itachi remains loyal to the Hidden Leaf even now."

_"I find that hard to believe!" _the Minister of the Left challenged abrasively. _"He attacked Konoha-nin only a few hours ago!"_

"And killed none while doing so," Hiruzen added with simplicity. "I believe you all remember the mounting threat of an coup by the Uchiha Clan seven years ago?"

_"Yes, yes, I do recall such a thing," _the feudal lord nodded several times. _"Nothing ever came of it if I remember correctly."_

Hiruzen smiled mirthlessly. "Thanks to Itachi's efforts, the rebellion was squashed before it could even happen. Itachi massacred his clansmen under the direct orders of myself, Homura, Koharu and Danzō."

_"Is this true?" _the Minister of the Right asked the other three mentioned. They merely nodded in response, none of them opting to speak. _"I see."_

"Then why is this the first time I'm hearing about it?" Tsunade demanded with a glare at her sensei and the others of his generation. "I am the Godaime Hokage! Why was I not informed one of our most dangerous rogue shinobi was in fact still loyal to his village?"

"I apologise, Godaime," Hiruzen said with formality. "Itachi had only two requests when he accepted the mission. The first was that Uchiha Sasuke was to be spared and the second that no one would ever come to know of it. Given the enormity of his sacrifice, we felt compelled to respect his wishes."

"Why?" Tsunade snarled at the Sandaime. "Why would he keep this a secret? Why would he go rogue at all?"

"In order to infiltrate the hidden organisation known as Akatsuki," Koharu answered her. "We believe it is being led by none other than-"

"That is enough… Koharu," Danzō fell in, speaking for the first time during the meeting. "That information is on a need to know basis only."

"I am the Hokage!" Tsunade shouted at the bandage-covered man. "I suggest the three of you don't aggravate me any more than you have already done and tell me hat I want to know."

Homura looked to Koharu, who simply shook her head. He then sighed as he then ignored her and answered. "We believe Akatsuki are related to the Kyūbi attack fourteen years ago. At the time of the Uchiha Massacre, Itachi was approached by a leading figure of the organisation. It was the perfect opportunity."

"Who else aside from the three of you know?" Tsunade demanded with a dangerously quiet voice.

"Aside from Jiraiya, no one," Hiruzen answered truthfully.

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital)

"The Kyūbi?" Sakura's eyes were wide and in disbelief. "That's impossible!" she was quick to say once she found her voice. "The Kyūbi was killed… fourteen years ago…" Hey eyes bulged as she turned her head to the unconscious chūnin.

Her intelligence had caught up with her midsentence. The Kyūbi attack occurred on October 10 _fourteen years ago_. They had only recently celebrated Naruto's birthday, _also_ on the tenth of October if she recalled correctly.

"This is crazy."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh. "It makes sense, Sakura. The adults don't just dislike Naruto, they _hate _him. And why would they? He's an orphan who used to pull pranks for attention. If anything, they should be feeling pity for him, but they don't."

"Back at the academy, the teachers used to ignore him," Sakura recalled as she remembered her earlier years. "He wasn't always pulling pranks."

"He started pulling pranks not long after we started our first year. He just wanted attention, to be acknowledged on some level. I don't think he minded it was the negative kind."

Sakura ran a hand through her hair as the obvious signs she had once ignored became more apparent. "This is crazy."

"I've been doing some reading in my father's study," Shikamaru shared with a serious expression. "It was troublesome, but I found a scroll on these things called _bijū._"

"Bijū?"

"The scroll wasn't very specific on where they come from, but they are entities of incredible power. There are nine of them known to man," the shadow-user started to explain.

"And you're saying the Kyūbi was a…bijū?" Sakura inferred.

"The strongest one," he affirmed with a nod. "And if my theory is right, _it still is._"

"How? How is it possible Naruto is connected to the Kyūbi in the first place?" Understandably, she was having trouble connecting a gargantuan fox to her former teammate.

Shikamaru's expression turned grim. "The scroll mentioned bijū being sealed into _people_, human sacrifices known as _jinchūriki_." He looked at the unconscious blond with a look of guilt. "Sacrifices like Naruto."

Sakura shook her head a few times. This was too much to take in so soon, it seemed too far removed from reality to be true. It didn't make sense to think Naruto would have such a dark side to him. "Why would they-?"

"To harness the power of the bijū," he answered her question before she finished posing it. "Jinchūriki are human weapons. Normally speaking they're…"

"What is it, Shikamaru?"

"They're like Sabaku no Gaara," the shadow-user finished.

Sakura flinched at the mentioning of the bloodthirsty Suna genin. The fear she associated with that name was still relatively fresh. "Gaara?"

"What else do you think that massive sand creature was? Gamabunta even called it the Ichibi."

It made perfect sense, even if she didn't want to believe it. 'The one tails…' Sakura translated as she sat down opposite Shikamaru in the chair next to Sasuke's bed. "So the reason why Naruto was treated so badly was because he's a…"

"A jinchūriki," Shikamaru filled in with nod. "I can't think of any other reason why the adults treat him the way they do."

"But he is nothing like Gaara!" The medic nin in training sounded rather defensive of her teammate.

Shikamaru might have smiled if it had been discussing a different topic. "Jinchūriki are usually like that, like Gaara, because of the way people treat them. They're lonely and persecuted by the people around them out of fear and hatred for the beast inside of them. Eventually it turns them into misanthropes or psychotic killers." He looked to the unconscious blood and smiled wryly. "I guess Naruto never let it get to him."

The room fell silent for a good while, save for the rhythmic beeping of the machines and occasional scurrying and conversations in the hallways outside. Shikamaru could see the guilt settle in Sakura as the rosette leaned on her knees and stared at the floor, mulling over the new information. He wouldn't be surprised if she cried. She certainly looked like she wanted to.

"How long have you known?" she asked after a while.

Shikamaru eyed her carefully before he answered the question. "I figured it out a while ago."

"Why didn't you say anything?" This time she looked at him accusingly.

The shadow-user rubbed the back of his neck again as he thought about it. "I figured Naruto would tell us when he was good and ready. I didn't think it would be right to take that choice from him."

"He was living with this secret all this time…" Her voice sounded a little hoarse. "He couldn't tell anyone, could he?"

"I don't think so," Shikamaru shook his head. "But he shouldn't have had to," he bit out, clearly agitated with his past ignorance. "We're his friends. We've known him since we were kids – _we grew up together _and had no idea."

"Shikamaru…" It was rather unusual for the Nara to get angry about anything.

"We've known Naruto for so long but never stopped to think why the adults tried to separate us from him, why they were always so harsh to him."

"Shikamaru… You said you were going to let Naruto tell us himself. Why are you telling me all of this now? I'm glad you did but…" she trailed off with a look of apprehension.

Shikamaru laced his fingers together and leaned forward with a serious look of his own. "I think Naruto is in danger," he told the rosette bluntly.

"In danger? From who."

"I've heard Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame were wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them during the attack."

Sakura looked like she didn't follow. "I don't understand."

"I didn't expect you to. It's not public knowledge, but red clouds are the sign of an organisation known as Akatsuki. They're an international criminal organisation involved in all kinds of things. Piracy, smuggling, kidnapping, assassination, mercenary work… they're pretty much all over the place. The platoon Naruto and I are part of are tasked with investigating their operations in Hi no Kuni. Though I suspect that task will soon be given to another department. Anyway, we recently raided one of their bases in Hi no Kuni in Tanzaku Gai and learned that the highest ranking members are all powerful shinobi."

-ooo-

(Undisclosed Location)

The sound of bone breaking was followed by a pained scream in a small room with a single, though very bright, light coming from the ceiling. Sounds of fist meeting flesh followed for a few more seconds as a man in long dark trench coat loomed over a bloodied and bruised man with grey hair tied to a chair.

Morino Ibiki approached his subordinate and laid a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough."

The tall tokubetsu jōnin pulled another chair turned it to sit on it backwards. He eyed the young man's swollen face. "Hello again, Kyōya. Do you have anything to share with us today?"

"I don't know anything!" the young man claimed. "I swear! I'm just an accountant!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Ibiki said simply as he stood up out of his chair and looked into Kyōya's fearful eyes. "You're in luck. We're not going to beat the information out of you today."

"Well, 'luck' isn't the word I would use, Ibiki-san," Yamanka Inoichi said as he appeared and took off one of his gloves.

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital)

"And you think the Akatsuki are after the jinchūriki?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I think they want the power of the bijū for their own goals."

"Sasuke's brother is in Akatsuki…" Sakura thought out loud as she bit her thumbnail with a light frown, deep in thought. "Why didn't he take Naruto with him?

"I don't know. It certainly is strange though. He had the opportunity to from what I heard."

Sakura opened her mouth to answer just as the door opened and Shizune walked in. The woman smiled at Shikamaru and then turned to Sakura. "Here to check upon on them?"

"Shizune-sensei," Sakura found her resolve as she stood with a determined look on her face. "I've made up my mind. I definitely want to become a medic. Please teach me."

Shizune just stared at her and then slowly nodded, taking note that any doubts the young kunoichi had about becoming a medic were now gone without a trace if the look in her eyes were anything to go by. "Then let's get started."

Shikamaru smiled lazily as the women left, noticing Sakura's lingering glance at the unconscious pair.

'I'll definitely be there next time to protect you both,' she vowed.

The shadow-user looked to the unconscious jinchūriki for a moment and then resumed with his crossword puzzle.

-ooo-

(Hi no Kuni Countryside)

Kisame emerged from the river, reverting from his fused shark form into his usual appearance. His chest was bare, having lost his cloak. "Did I keep you waiting long?"

Itachi was waiting for him by the bank. He was in a miserable state: feverish and unbalanced. His Sharingan was deactivated and the whites of his eyes appeared to be crack. Dried blood ran down his eyes. "No." His voice shook as though he could barely keep his balance.

With that single utterance, he slumped to the ground.

Kisame didn't know why he smiled, but as he did so, he approached the fallen Uchiha and easily lifted him off the ground with one hand, resting him on his other shoulder.

"Let's get you back to that woman," the swordsman said to the unconscious Uchiha. "Oh, and remind me to cut you once you're on your feet."

As the duo set off in the forestry, Kisame couldn't help but shake his head. "Leader isn't going to be happy."

-ooo-

(Hokage Tower)

It was late at night by the time Tsunade returned to her office. She was standing on the balcony overlooking the entirety of the Hidden Leaf village. The night-time lights illuminated the village beautifully. The last of the Senju raised a bottle of sake to her lips and took a long sip. Then she raised a cigarette and took a drag.

"Have I ever told you how sexy you look when you smoke?"

"Back already, lecher?" The Godaime recognised Jiraiya's voice as he joined her on the balcony.

Jiraiya reached and took the cigarette from her, taking a drag from it himself. "Rough night?"

"You don't know half of it."

The Sage turned to lean on his elbow. "So I heard," he said understandingly. "How is the kid?"

"He got banged up pretty badly but the Kyūbi took care of those injuries," she answered before tugging at her bottle again. "Itachi used some kind of genjutsu on him. Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke fell to it as well."

"Should I be worried?"

"Too soon to tell."

Jiraiya flicked the cigarette and moved behind her; he tried to embrace her comfortingly when he noticed her tense. "What's wrong?" She was usually very receptive to his plays at intimacy when it was just the two of them.

"I know about Uchiha Itachi." She turned to lean on the balcony railing, facing him. "He's your contact in Akatskui, isn't he?"

Jiraiya frowned but decided not to deny it and leant on the railing next to her. "The old man told you?"

"_Fuck_, Jiraiya! How could you have kept this from me?"

"How many people know?"

Tsunade glared at him. "Does it matter?"

"Yes it matters!" Jiraiya raised his voice. Upon seeing the apprehension in his lover's eyes, he sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Only myself, the Daimyō and his two top ministers have been brought into the secret. The others were dismissed, including my ANBU commander."

"That kid has sacrificed more than most people could think possible, Tsunade…" Jiraiya said quietly. He ran a hand through his white mane. "You're right, he is my informant in Akatsuki. Though it's been a while since I had contact with him."

"I want to know why he came here and hospitalised two dozen of my shinobi, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya rubbed his hands together and nodded as he took her by the hand and led her inside. He hadn't sensed anyone near by, and in all likelihood, they were truly alone on the balcony, but one could never be too careful. They had already said far too much in the open.

The double doors to the balcony closed with a soft _click._ Tsunade went for a refill and handed him a bottle of his own.

"I can't say for sure but I think Itachi came back because of Danzō," the Sage said, continuing their conversation.

"Why am I not surprised?" Tsunade sat in her chair as the Sage sat on her desk half turned to her.

"Though we could never prove it, the old man and I had a suspicion Danzō was involved in the Uchiha's plans for their coup. Fugaku was one of his most staunch supporters and he even trusted him with training Itachi and his nephew, Uchiha Shisui."

"Why-"

"You were out on a bender for the past fifteen years, remember?" Jiraiya cut her off, knowing what her question would be. "Anyway, we could never prove it, but we always thought Danzō was in league with the Uchiha. He was the first to call for their extermination when things got dicey."

"And he was okay with using turning a boy on his family to do it. They were all okay with it," Tsunade muttered with disgust. "Even sensei signed off on it."

Jiraiya picked his ear. "Well, to be fair to sensei, he didn't have much of a choice thanks to the by-laws _your granduncle _wrote. He was bound to do take action of that nature, Hime."

"Tche! You can't possibly think that makes it okay," Tsunade snapped. "How did Itachi even manage to do it? Genius or not, the Uchiha's were no pushovers."

Jiraiya's eyes took a peculiar glint to them. "Something tells me sensei already told you."

"Uchiha Madara," Tsunade whispered the name. "He's supposed to be dead. My grandfather killed him."

"Apparently not," Jiraiya said rather bluntly. "I guess that explains where your terrible luck comes from."

Tsunade glared at the lecher.

"I guess that's a no to doing it in the office?"

"_Jiraiya_."

He conceded with a sigh. "Alright. I'll tell you what I know."

-ooo-

(Root Headquarters)

Danzō stood leaning on his cane on the underground bridge within the HQ chambers of his personal ANBU branch. Root's headquarters was largely underground, and thus it was incredibly cold. But the cold was a good thing. It helped to sharpen the mind.

A masked figure appeared and knelt facing Danzō's back.

"Hyō," he said simply.

"We found her," Hyō reported dutifully. "She is waiting outside."

With his back still turned Danzō nodded. "Bring her in."

Moments later the tall double doors to chambers spread and two more operatives walked escorting a third, smaller person between them. Like Hyō, they were dressed in black trousers, black cloaks, black gloves and white ANBU masks.

"Leave us," Danzō said as he turned around.

Hyō looked to him and disappeared once he realised he, too, was dismissed from the meeting.

"Take off your mask… Rei."

The girl reached for her ferret mask took it off.

"How are your injuries?"

Rei maintained a blank expression as she knelt before the man. "Inconsequential."

"Good." He nodded as he turned his back on her and began to talk over the bridge. He stopped halfway through and looked to water flowing beneath. "How goes your mission?"

"Uneventful, Danzō-sama," Rei answered quietly.

The old hawk nodded once more, though to no one in particular it seemed. "How fares your sister?" he then asked suddenly.

"She is nearing her third trimester," Rei replied quickly. "I check on her every day. The pregnancy goes well."

Danzō nodded again, more slowly this time. He seemed to be deep in thought. "Do you know why I asked you here?"

"I believe so."

"What did _he _say to you?"

She knew whom he was referring to and did not pretend otherwise. "Uchiha Itachi said very little in regards to you or Root. He didn't say much at all."

"What did he say?"

Rei paused for a second as she thought back to her meeting.

_"Danzō is not a kind man."_

"He said you were unkind."

Danzō looked curious. "Is that all?"

_"One day he will have use again for your sister or her child and he will come for them. See to it you repay your sister's kindness."_

"Yes," Rei answered. "That is all he said."

Danzō nodded one last time and then crossed the bridge to his private domain, ending the conversation then and waited for him to leave her sight and then stood up to leave as she affixed her mask.

She was near the exit when her senses kicked in just in time.

A beast of ink jumped at her from the shadows.

Rei reached to her shoulder and unsheathed her tip-less tantō, a standard issue weapon within Root, and made quick work of the conjured animal, tearing it asunder with a single, swift arc of her blade.

"What is the meaning of this nonsense?" she demanded as she turned to the shadows from which stepped out a pale boy with a crop of jet-black hair.

"Just a friendly greeting," the boy said smiling.

Rei sheathed her tantō and stared at him blankly. "I don't have time for this," she then decided after a moment and walked past him.

-ooo-

(Sarutobi Clan Compound)

Hiruzen sat in his bed, chewing on his pipe with a frown on his wrinkled face. It was late at night and dead quiet in the compound, save for the critter noises and soothing sound of water. The head of the Sarutobi Clan drew from his pipe and let out a torrent of smoke. He was deep in thought, enough so he took no pleasure from his tobacco indulgence.

_Flashback…_

Itachi knelt and bowed his head. "Hokage-sama.

"You took quite a risk in coming here," Hiruzen said to him albeit with an understanding tone. "I take it this was your way of warning Naruto-kun?"

"Sometimes one must be cruel only to be kind." **(2)**

"Indeed… Though you may have been a tad excessive," Hiruzen drawled with a hint of bemusement. "How is your health, Itachi-kun? I have not heard from _her _in quite some time but I take it you are still undergoing treatment?" the God of Shinobi assumed, to which the younger shinobi nodded once again. "Good. Now, what of Danzō? You went to see him, didn't you?"

Itachi paused for a slight moment. "I have made it clear to Danzō what will happen if he goes after Sasuke once…"

"I pass?" Hiruzen finished for the young man. He actually smiled a little as he chewed on his pipe. "I require no further explanation, Itachi-kun. I understand completely." He then turned to Kosuke and nodded.

"It is good seeing you again, Itachi-kun. My, my, you did quite a number on him," the Mannen Genin noted as he approached the unconscious blond and knelt as he pulled him over his shoulders horizontally.

"And you too, Kosuke-san," Itachi replied sincerely. "He was quite adamant about killing me at the cost of his own life. I hope he will be able to keep Sasuke under control just as fiercely."

"Let us hope so," Hiruzen said gravely. "You know what will happen if Sasuke deserts the village." The Kage did not have to elaborate any further.

"I have not forgotten, Hokage-sama," Itachi nodded stiffly. "I can only hope Uzumaki Naruto's bond with Sasuke will be strong enough. He is the only one capable of keeping him on the right path. And if Sasuke believes staying around Naruto will increase his chances of running into me again…" he trailed off as new chakra sources were heading their way. "I believe it is time for me to go."

"I wish we could talk some more but we do not have much time." The Sandaime meld his hands in a tiger hand seal. "I'm sure you understand the necessity in making it appear I chased you off, no?"

Itachi merely nodded and disappeared.

_…End Flashback_

Hiruzen blew a large volume of smoke and continued to stroke his beard deep in thought.

He worried, now that Tsunade knew about Itachi, her subsequent actions would jeopardise his cover within Akatsuki. There was not much time left for the Sandaime. He had to ensure he at least had some information on the leadership of Akatsuki before he passed on.

Whomever had released the Kyūbi upon Konoha fourteen years ago, whether it was the real Madara, as unlikely as that was, or simply a pretender, he needed to know more.

He needed to ensure Konoha would be safe.

-ooo-

(Senju Clan Compound)

Tsunade lied naked in her bed bed to covered only by blankets. She was deep in thought, eyebrows scrunching as she tried to wrap her head around all that Jiraiya had shared with her only a few hours ago. She finally relented and sighed as she stared at the ceiling and then around the room.

She had grown up in his house. It was a long time ago. She was born years after the Shodai had died, resulting in her father becoming the head of the clan. It had taken her quite a while to adjust in sleeping in this room, where her parents had shared the bed, like her grandfather had done with Uzumaki Mito, her grandmother.

This was the house Uzumaki Kushina had lived in when she was young girl. Perhaps it was the house Naruto _should have_ grown up in as well. In a way, Tsunade knew she had betrayed Kushina by not being there for her son. She was never as close to Kushina as Jiraiya was to Minato, but they were still family. In fact, Naruto was the only living family member she had left that she knew of.

The door opened and Jiraiya walked into the room with his chest bare and a sheet tied around his hips. He sat down by her side and placed a drink in her hands. "I'm thinking of going to see the kid."

"At this hour?" Tsunade asked as she sat up in bed, adjusting the covers slightly.

"Tomorrow."

"He's not going to wake up any time soon, Jiraiya."

"I know, but I still want to check up on him."

Tsunade downed her drink in one took his out of his hands. "There may be a way to wake him up, but the trauma is still fresh. And it's rather risky. I'll have to try it out on Kakashi first if it comes to that."

"Why Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked as he crawled on the bed and lied down next to her. He began planting light kisses on her arm and shoulder, leading him to her neck as he slid under the covers.

"He's a fully developed adult, his brain can deal with trauma much easier. The treatment shouldn't be as much of a risk."

Jiraiya nodded in a show of understanding. "So how long will it take before you try this treatment?"

"I'd rather not try it till it's been over two weeks." She raised an eyebrow once she felt his hands move across her body. "Aren't you energetic tonight?"

"I missed you." Jiraiya smiled as she put down her drink and turned to kiss him.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and laid on her back and hugged his shoulder as they continued their lovemaking session. "I missed you too."

-ooo-

(A Few Days Later: Undisclosed Location)

_Byzzt!_

_Byzzt!_

_"Itachi… Kisame… You are late."_

Sharingan and shark eyes looked around the dark cave and turned to focus on the rippled-patterned eyes of Pein. They were alone, save for Pein's partner and Zetsu. None of the other members of Akatsuki were present.

_"My apologies."_

_"Forgive us."_

Pein did not beat around the bush and cut to the chaise. _"You know why I have summoned you," _he stated calmly. _"Explain yourselves. Why did you disregard my orders?"_

_"That is something I cannot tell you," _Itachi answered calmly, holding up a hand to silence his partner.

_"It was not a request," _Pein clarified assertively. _"The consequences of your actions will depend on your answer."_

Itachi held the man's gaze calmly and refused to budge. _"The consequences will be what they will. The question will go unanswered."_

_"Do you realise what you are saying… Itachi?" _asked the feminine voice of the sole female member of Akatsuki. _"Kisame, I advise you talk some sense into him."_

Rows of shark teeth parted in a grin. _"Pass," _the swordsman said simply as he shuffled the weight of his blade. _"Our actions were not in the name of Akatsuki. There is no reason why we should tell you."_

_"You wore our robes. Anything you do while wearing them tells your victims otherwise. Konoha will surely increase efforts to hunt us down now," _countered the woman.

_"Enough, Konan." _Pein's eyes settled on those of Itachi. _"Will you continue to defy me even if you locate you _myself_ and force the answer out of you?"_

_"Traitors and deserters we may be, but we are still shinobi," _Kisame replied in Itachi's stead. _"We have no doubt your threats are not empty, but neither of us fear death."_

_"If we may interject," _White-Zetsu spoke up diplomatically, calling for their attention.

**_"The attack has embarrassed Konoha greatly. This can only work to our advantage," _**Black-Zetsu stated.

White-Zetsu nodded several times. _"Our clientele list will only increase."_

**_"We should verify with Kakuzu."_**

Pein looked at them and then back to the Uchiha and shark-man. It was clear he was weighing his options. On one hand, his members had defied his orders, and the punishment for that would be severe, however on the other hand, their actions may have worked to Akatsuki's advantage. He was inclined not to sever all ties with them given how valuable they were within the organisation.

After a long while Pein spoke once more. _"Am I understood there will be no repeat of incidents such as this?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Yes."_

_"Then your heads remain on your necks," _Pein decided finally. _"This meeting is over."_

-ooo-

(?)

He awoke from a darkness that had long since embraced him, sheltered him from the outside world. He had seen nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing for many days. He didn't know how many, but he knew quite some time had passed.

The darkness was comforting. Quiet and peaceful, void of any fear and pain. In it he felt nothing, experienced nothing. It was nothing.

And in his blindness and deafness, he found reprieve. His memory was hazy and confusing. What had happened before the darkness? He could remember only flashes.

Flashed of lightning and fire and red eyes. And he remembered pain that went beyond the physical.

"Mother."

For the first time in days, weeks perhaps, he heard his own voice. Or was it his thoughts that he heard? It didn't matter. He remembered now.

He was shown an illusion, or was it a memory? He didn't know, how could he have known? It didn't matter.

It was just then that he felt lightness in his head. As though a pressure was alleviated from his mind, from his conscious.

And suddenly the darkness was gone. He could see, he could hear and he could feel.

_Drip! Drip! Drip!_

Naruto found himself standing before the giant cage within his mindscape that imprisoned the Kyūbi. Aside from the sound of water dripping and pooling, it was quiet. The cage that restrained the fox was cast in a darkness that could not be penetrated by the dim lights in the sewer.

"Kyūbi," Naruto called out quietly to the shadows. He clenched his fists when there was no immediate reply. "I know you're awake, you stupid fox."

Something roused in the darkness. Gargantuan eyes peered open at him and gargantuan fangs parted. **"To what do I owe this pleasure?"**

Naruto approached the cage and stood there for quite some time. He just stared into the slit eyes of the fox.

**"Speak," **the fox growled.

"You killed my mother, didn't you?" It came out sounding more like a question than a statement as it had been intended. Naruto felt as though he already knew the answer. It wasn't very surprising either given how many lives the Kyūbi had taken. Why would his case be any different?

The fox remained quiet for a long period, big red eyes scrutinizing his jinchūriki for whatever reason. The fox then slowly neared the gigantic bars that kept him restrained within his cage and bare his entirety. **"Yes."**

"So what Itachi showed me was true," Naruto mused quietly. He looked the tailed beast in the eye. "You killed my mother right in front of me."

**"What did the Uchiha show you exactly?"**

Naruto glared at the fox with nothing but hatred in his eyes. "You killing my mother."

**"What else?"** the fox demanded.

A part of Naruto couldn't believe the bijū had the nerve to demand more information but he felt compelled to answer the question. "Nothing." He hoped that what Itachi had showed him was not real, at least not entirely, least of all the gruesome way she died, sliced to shreds. He _instinctively_ knew the woman he saw in the genjutsu was his mother. He didn't know how that was possible, he hadn't ever seen her before, but he _knew. _He just knew.

And he hoped that he wasn't the one she died for, he hoped that he wasn't tasked with housing her killer. "What… What was her name?" He _hated _himself for asking. And he hated the fox even more. He hated it with a passion so great he could drown in it. But this was the first time in his life he had come so close to finding out something, _anything_ about the woman that gave birth to him. "Do you even know?" In the back of his mind he couldn't believe he even asked. 'How would he even know?'

**"Your mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina," **the Kyūbi said slowly. **"And it is true… I killed her."**

Naruto was hit with surprise first, finding it hard to believe the fox actually knew, but then he clenched his fists so tight his knuckles turned white and his nails dug into the palms of his hands.

Again he was silent for a moment. "That's all I needed to know."

**"Is that so, Naruto?" **The Kyūbi's fangs parted in what appeared to be a _sneer_. The fox had never referred to him by his name before. **"Your fool mother tried to protect you when the damnable Yondaime tried to seal me."**

"Then that decides it," Naruto whispered in a shaky voice, looking into his reflection in the water by his feet as he let the revelations settle in.

**"Decides what?"**

When Naruto looked up to the fox, his eyes were red and slit like the Kyūbi. "You and I are done." Despite the raging hurricane of emotions inside of him, he managed to keep a relatively calm and even tone. "From here on out, you are on your own, Kyūbi."

The fox snarled at him. **"Do you think me so weak I need your companionship, boy? Make no mistake. You are nothing but a miserable sack of flesh and bones. You are _weak_ and _pathetic. _I have no use for you, who are ruled by your petty desires for _love _and _friendship_."**

"Maybe I'm weak," Naruto gave an empty, short-lived chuckle. "But I'm not the one stuck in a cage."

**"You insolent little-!"**

"You know, I always thought you were an asshole, Kyūbi, but I also thought there was more to you than just hatred," Naruto interrupted his tirade as he raised his voice. "But now I know for certain you are just a mindless animal. All you are capable of is killing. I guess I finally understand why there is a need for people like me to keep beasts like you away from the world."

**"You humans are not so different than I. You hate and you kill and you have allowed this cycle to continue for as long as you have existed."**

"I'm going to go now," Naruto stated as he turned around and began to leave the sewer in his mindscape. "Start counting your days, fox. Because from here on out, they're numbered."

The Kyūbi roared with laughter. **"You think you can kill _me_, fool? Not even the cowardly Yondaime could accomplish such a feat. I am a being far beyond you lowly human's understanding. You cannot kill me, Uzumaki Naruto. It is I who will kill you, just like I killed your mother!"**

In an instant Naruto turned and closed the distance between them, his expression set in a furious glare as he stuck to the massive cage and tucked his fingers under the sealing tag.

The fox's eyes lit up opportunistically. **"Go on, let me out of this cage and we shall settle this right now! See if you can avenge your mother!"**

Much to the fox's confusion, Naruto then merely smiled. Though it was devoid of any mirth, it was odd sight to see the red, slit eyes accompanied by a smile. "You'd like that wouldn't you?" Naruto back flipped from the bars and began to head for the exit once more.

"Don't worry, you'll have your chance before I kill you," he echoed without turning as he left. "Just not today."

With that he disappeared from sight.

The Kyūbi glowered and seethed quietly in its cage, lamenting its failure to provoke his host into undoing the seal.

"Looks like you fucked up," said a new voice.

The fox snarled at the perfect copy of his voice. **"Silence yourself."**

"You're no fun," Dark-Naruto remarked as he sat down cross-legged in front of the cage. "No fun at all."

-ooo-

(In the Real World)

Naruto's eyes opened with some considerable difficulty. His sight was bleary and his eyes stung under the bright light of the room he was in. Through squinted eyes he managed to see purple and white.

"Naruto, are you awake?

Naruto recognised the voice immediately, but his throat was parched and his body felt heavy, _very heavy_. He finally opened his eyes completely and found himself looking directly into familiar violet eyes. "Rei…" he rasped. "Water."

Rei moved quickly to fill a cup. "Don't move," he heard her say as he tried to sit up. "Here, drink."

Naruto parted his mouth and allowed the cool liquid to flow down his throat. "Where am I?"

"In the hospital," she answered.

His eyesight was finally clearing up. He could now make out her face properly and noticed the concerned look in her eyes. "How long?" he asked.

"Over two weeks," she answered.

An incredulous look stretched over his features. Naruto couldn't quite believe he had been out for so long. "Two weeks?"

"Two weeks." She nodded as she sat down next to him.

Naruto took her hand and felt his voice crack. "I'm so relieved you're safe," he said in a whisper. "I couldn't stop thinking about you, what could have happened to you-"

"I'm fine, Naruto," she whispered. She squeezed his hand comfortingly and played with his hair. "He didn't hurt me." It was a lie and a pretty big one at that, but he didn't need to know what happened. Not yet. "And the Uchiha is fine as well."

Naruto exhaled in relief. "That asshole made it, huh? I figured Itachi did the same thing to him." His voice shook with relief. "Where is he?"

"Right there," Rei turned her head to the opposite side of the room. "No, don't-"

Naruto sat up again and eyed Sasuke lying in his bed. "That asshole nearly got us killed." He had meant to sound angry, but he couldn't. Instead he had a despondent look on his face.

_"If you get in the way of my ambition, I'll kill you too!"_

He shook his head, vowing to address that issue once the raven-haired bastard woke up. He then turned to Rei once he noticed an unusual expression on her face. "Rei-chan?"

Before he knew it, she smashed her lips against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. The blissful taste of her left Naruto flustered and in shock, but he was quick to return the kiss and pulled her close. He had no idea what had gotten into her, but whatever it was, he wasn't complaining, especially not when she moved to straddle him on the bed.

Rei pried his mouth opened and slid her tongue his mouth and ran her fingers through his hear, moaning as his warms hands slid up her shirt. "Am I hurting you?" she asked with worry once she heard him groan.

"I'm a little stiff," he said. She raised a curious eyebrow and he found himself rushing to make himself clear. "I meant all over the place… take your mind of the gutter," he added playfully.

She leaned back and held his face in her hands as she looked him in the eye. "Never leave me like that again."

"Rei-"

"Promise me."

"I can't-"

"_Promise me._"

Naruto gave a sigh of defeat and slowly nodded. "I promise." It was a lie, and one he didn't particularly feel ashamed about telling because protecting her was worth it.

_"We will come for you."_

'I have to tell her,' he thought as she hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer, taking in her warmth and her scent. He didn't want to let go. It pained him to think she would leave him if he told her, and he truly did not want to share his secret, but he would have to. She deserved to know. "Rei-chan, I have something to tell you."

Rei released him from her embrace but held him at arm's length. "What is it?"

"There is something you should know about me," Naruto began slowly and reluctantly. "I don't think I could ever really be with you if you didn't." He looked away, unable to look in her the eye, too scared of rejection and disgust. "If you want to call it quits after this then I completely understand."

"Naruto, look at me," she commanded calmly.

And so he did, and he found her looking at him with understanding eyes and an accepting smile. "_I know_," she said quietly. "And I'm happy you wanted to tell me."

Perplexed, he asked the only question on his mind. "How?"

"There's a lot you don't know about me either, Naruto," she revealed quietly. "Probably even more than I don't know about you. I'm a private person, so normally I don't… share things."

He opened his mouth to speak but she silenced him with a single finger on his lips. "I've known about you and the fox since before I met you. I can't tell you how, but I want you to know that _I don't care_ about that. All I see when I look at you is someone I care about."

Words alone could not describe what he felt upon hearing those words, nor could they convey what he was feeling, so he didn't bother. Instead, he reached out to her and embraced her tightly, _and she accepted him._

"_Thank you._" It was all he could manage without his voice cracking, but she understood him just fine.

-ooo-

(Hokage's Office)

Tsunade was finishing up on her paperwork and stood up to file. It had been over two weeks since Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke had been hospitalised, yet she was reluctant to try the procedure she discussed with Jiraiya. It was risky, even with a grown man like Kakashi, and though she was heralded as the world's greatest medic, she did not have much confidence in her ability to manipulative the mind through the brain. That area of expertise was something the Yamanaka's specialised in, but it would have been foolish to assume Itachi had not left some trap of sorts for them. He was familiar with their mind wandering after all.

The doors to her office opened and Shizune hurried in with a broad smile on her face. "Good news, Tsunade-sama," she exclaimed excitedly as she neared the Godaime. "Naruto just woke up."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," she muttered under her breath. "How long has he been awake?"

"About an hour or so," Shizune informed.

Tsunade reached for her green jacket and headed to the door. "Time for a break."

-ooo-

(Konoha Hospital)

For the next hour or so, Naruto sat through a intensive medical examination, and to make matters worse, not only did Tsunade and Shizune badger him with questions, there was a whole crowd of fifteen or so students to observe, over half of them female and girls he knew from his days in academy. They watched him as he sat on the examination bench in his boxers and suffered the grueling examination. He wasn't exactly self-conscious, but their scribbling on their clipboards and staring as though he were some scientific specimen was starting to get annoying.

"Is this really necessary?" he scowled as Shizune placed an ice-cold stethoscope on his chest. He did his best not to flinch and already missed the warmth of his hospital gown.

"Not many live to tell the tale after being struck by Uchiha Itachi's genjutsu," Tsunade stated as she scribbled down what Shizune told her. "This is a valuable learning experience."

Naruto glared at her. "It's annoying is what it is. I told you I feel fine." There was a burning question in the back of his mind, and he had wanted to pose it ever since the Godaime showed up, and he would have if it hadn't been for all the additional pairs of eyes and ears.

"Hokage-sama is right, Naruto," Rei said to him with a hint of a scolding tone. Though she was already a qualified medic, she had chosen to remain by his sides and took notes of her own whenever Shizune dictated an interesting fact.

Naruto shrugged, biting back a childish remark about her sitting half naked on a bench in his stead whilst being stared at by a crowd. "Fine," he muttered instead. Shizune and Tsunade shared a knowing smile much to his annoyance. "How long left?"

"We're almost done."

"You said that half an hour ago."

"Did I?" Tsunade asked her assistant with feigned ignorance.

Shizune shook her head as she went along. "I don't think so."

A few of the students laughed, only increasing Naruto's annoyance. He wasn't exactly in the best of moods. "I have something I need to ask you," he tried to sound as calmly as possible.

It was a struggle.

"Go ahead," Tsunade invited absentmindedly as she took some additional notes Shizune dictated.

"Not here," Naruto growled with a glance at the students. This didn't concern them.

"Feel free to ask whatever is on your mind, Naruto-kun. Patient-doctor confidentiality applies to the students as well," Shizune tried coaxingly. "And if it's about sex, feel free to ask your girlfriend since she's qualified," she added with a mischievous look in her eye.

The humour of it wasn't found on Naruto, who finally had enough and punched the bench he sat on, denting it. It clearly startled some of the students and even Shizune, who looked to Tsunade, who then nodded to her.

"Let's give them a moment," the auburn-haired medic said as she led the students outside of the examination room.

Rei looked at him for a moment and then followed the rest.

As the door closed, Tsunade placed her clipboard on a desk and crossed her arms. "Care to explain what the hell that was about?"

Naruto looked her in the eye. He wasn't going to sugar coat what he wanted to say. "Who is Uzumaki Kushina?"

Tsunade's eyes widened.

-ooo-

(Outside Examination Room 7)

"What the hell is his problem?" Ino said to Sakura with an annoyed look on her face. "What an ass."

Sakura didn't comment on the last remark but had to admit it was unusual for to see Naruto that angry. "Do you think it was us?" The rosette turned to Rei.

"Naruto isn't very self conscious. I think he has something to discuss with Hokage-sama that couldn't wait," she gave her two cents. "It may regard his experience under that genjutsu."

Shizune eyed her with interest. "Did Naruto say anything about it to you?"

"No," Rei shook her head. "He said he didn't want to talk about it."

Shizune glanced one last time at the door and then called for the students to follow her down the hall.

-ooo-

(Examination Room 7)

Tsunade looked in Naruto's accusing eyes and moved to the other side of the room and leant against the wall. "Where did you hear that name?"

"_From my furry little friend_," Narut spat. He wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them no matter what. "So who is she?"

The Slug Princess pinched the bridge of her nose and took a moment to answer. Clearly she hadn't expected to be blindsided with that question. "Uzumaki Kushina is… _was_ your mother," she revealed. Upon noticing the lack of reaction, she realised it had been a _test_. "You already knew that, didn't you?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't lie to me," Naruto admitted, not particularly wanting to look her in the eye. He felt an unpleasant sensation in his stomach he couldn't quite deal with. It made his throat run dry and his eyes sting. "She died protecting me… didn't she? That's what the fox told me."

Tsunade could see the look of devastation in his eyes and moved from the wall. "I don't know about the details, but as I understand, that's what happened."

Naruto rubbed at his eyes before tears could fall again. He had to remind himself he was a shinobi. He couldn't let himself break down like that. Not again. "OK," he forced.

"What did Itachi do to you, Naruto?" Tsunade's voice was soft and comforting. She laid a hand on his shoulder.

He looked to the floor, not wanting to let her see his face. "He trapped me in some kind of genjutsu world for days. I don't know how many. He made me watch my mother die over and _over _again. After that, I don't know what happened. All I remember is complete and utter darkness." He couldn't even explain it to anyone who hadn't experienced it. "It felt like… my mind put everything back together. I can't explain it in any other way."

"And then you went to see the Kyūbi," Tsunade inferred slowly.

Naruto nodded. "He told me that the illusion wasn't entirely accurate but…" He lost his voice for a moment. He didn't want to make it any more real than it already was. It was childish and it was stupid, but he couldn't help it.

Tsunade could only nod understandingly as she pulled him into a hug. "Alright," she conceded softly. "I'll tell you everything I know. Sensei was going to tell you eventually but that old man has made a lot of mistakes." She tightened her hug, giving into her maternal instincts. "I'll tell you everything," she repeated quietly. In the back of her mind she remembered comforting Nawaki like this when their mother had died.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

"What about my father?" Naruto asked in a muffled voice.

She conceded to that as well. "I'll tell you all about him too."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

Consider this to be the turning point of the story. Naruto's gone through some heavy stuff and now he's finally learning about his parentage. Itachi's words, the Kyūbi's rather dastardly confession and the truth surrounding his birth will go a long way in terms of him growing up. Does that mean Naruto's going to turn out to be some emo asshat? No. But it's definitely going to have an effect on him and the way he develops as a character. What comes after this will be what defines him as different from canon Naruto.

Also note that in the manga Kakashi and Sasuke weren't that disorientated after waking up from it so neither is Naruto.

I hope you guys could find some realism in the start of this chapter. I tried my hand at depicting a believable sort of government and the repercussions of an attack such as that of Itachi and Kisame. And to make it clear, the top three figures in government are: Daimyō, Minister of the Left, Minister of the Right. The Hokage is like a high-ranking army general or admiral. They answer only to Daimyō but can be swayed by other high-ranking officials.

Anyhow, that's all I got. If you're hungry for more, The Uzumaki Descendant is a thing. I'm just saying'.

**Notes**

**(1)** Remember that I changed the currency so that 10 ryō equals 1 dollar. So in canon rates, Itachi would have a 120 million bounty.

**(2) **Hamlet, motherfucker. Have you read it? That was a reference to Pulp Fiction.


	17. Chapter 17: Origins

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 10-02-13_

_**I posted this chapter early today, and I mean real early like 5AM early, but it didn't go through due to some issues on FFN.**_

_**Fair warning. This chapter contains a lot of new information I've made up to explain some stuff in canon I always felt should have been explained before. You're either going to love or hate this chapter based on that. All I can hope is that you keep an open mind and remember that this is a work of fan fiction. **__**I edited this chapter to the best of my pathetically limited ability. Helpful PMs pointing out errors are always welcomed. Please don't dedicate reviews to them if you're not commenting on the chapter itself. **_

_**And if you want to read some more, there should be another chapter of The Uzumaki Descent available soon. If you haven't read it yet, please do give it a try.**_

_**Also, yay 700k hits!**_

* * *

><p>CH17: Origins<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto sat on the side of his bed, struggling to pull on his shirt. Though unhurt, his body was still rather stiff and ached when he moved. "Fuck," he swore under his breath when he felt a jolt of pain. "Do you mind?" he asked the pretty kunoichi in the room. Who knew all that sleep could make even the minor movement tiresome?<p>

Rei eyed him with bemusement as she walked over and helped him pull the shirt over his head. "Incredible," she remarked as her fingers trailed over his smooth skin. "You don't have a single scar on you," she clarified when he got a little red in the face. "That's pretty unusual for a shinobi."

"I'm an unusual guy." He reached for her wrist when she finished and stepped back. Though he felt a bit of discomfort when he pulled her on his lap, it was worth it as he kissed her.

For whatever reason, Rei was rather receptive of his affections, enthusiastically so even. Maybe it was because of the fear of losing him she experienced due to Itachi or maybe she was just more comfortable with being intimate now that they had been together for a while. Whatever the reason may was, he rather grateful.

Rei pushed him on his back and allowed entry to her mouth. Naruto ran a hand down the small of her backside and squeezed at her bum. She didn't seem to mind at all and kissed him even more passionately.

"Naruto," she said breathlessly between kisses. "We should get you checked out if you're meeting with Hokage-sama this afternoon."

He sat up, hands around her hips as she stood by the bed. "You haven't asked me why I'm going to meet with her." He looked at her with curiosity. "Why?" He had expected her to ask him as soon as he got back from speaking with Tsunade, but for some reason she hadn't.

"You'll tell me when you're ready, won't you?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Then I can wait until you're comfortable talking about it."

Naruto smiled, not knowing what he had done to deserve her. And maybe he didn't. But he wouldn't give her up for anything. He was happiest when he was around her; she seemed to vanquish his dark thoughts and self-pity. And perhaps most importantly: she knew about the Kyūbi and didn't care. 'I'm in love with her,' he knew. His grin threatened to split his face as he saw her pack his things for him.

"You should go home and take a shower before you – what is it?" Rei asked midsentence when she caught his smile.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly like a complete idiot. "I just realised that I'm actually happy just being around you. It might be soon, I wouldn't really know, but I think I'm in love with you."

Shock flashed in her violet eyes. "I…" What was she supposed to say in a situation like that? She struggled for the rights words, all the while not knowing what she wanted to say in the first place. Were there even right words for a situation like this? It seemed like anything that wasn't along the lines of reciprocation wasn't.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything," Naruto was quick to assure her once he noticed her hesitance, though his smile lessened. "Sorry. That was a bit random, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was," she agreed with a shaky voice. "I'm not sure how I feel about you, Naruto. I know that I like being with you, but I don't know if it's love. It's too soon to tell."

He held up his hand, nodding understandingly whilst he fought the urge to kick himself. "Don't worry about it, Rei-chan."

"Thank you for being so understanding," she said quietly. "I'll go file your discharge papers." He knew it was a transparent excuse to go collect her thoughts in privacy thus he didn't object to her leaving him alone.

'Smooth, Naruto, real smooth,' he chided himself as he lied on his back and stared at the ceiling.

Being left alone to his thoughts didn't do wonders for him. It was like being left alone in the room while knowing a monster would rear its head from under his bed.

"_I misspoke earlier. You are weak."_

His fists clenched tightly as Uchiha Itachi's voice rang fresh in his mind.

"_At the level you are now, it would be far too easy to kill you."_

Even in his mind, the voice sounded as calculative, reserved and _condescending _as fuck. He hated the fact his memory was so clear. He barely remembered anything else of that day. Why couldn't he have forgotten all of it?

'Still, if there is one thing I can't deny, it's that the bastard was right.'

He hated to admit it, and he never would openly, but it was undeniably true. 'I've improved, but it's not enough. Itachi wasn't even trying and he beat Sasuke and I like we were nothing…'

He clenched and unclenched his fists several times as he looked at his hands. There was so much he still could improve on, so much he _had to_ improve on if he wanted to survive.

'My taijutsu is lacking,' he acknowledged as he took a tally in his mind. 'I can barely dispel basic genjutsu let alone anything Itachi can throw at me and my ninjutsu isn't focused enough to do any real damage when it counts.'

He opened his right hand and charged a Rasengan, losing himself in the perfectly shaped orb of rotating chakra. He shuddered to think what kind of damage Itachi could have done to him if he reversed the technique like he had done with Sasuke's Chidori. Being electrocuted sounded fun in comparison to having his limbs shaved off or being caught in the middle of a chakra explosion like Jiraiya had warned him about when he tried using an unstable version of the jutsu.

'You fucking coward,' he berated himself harshly. 'You were _too scared_ to use it.' Releasing the jutsu, he clenched his fists once more. 'That was pathetic.'

"_We will come for you."_

Itachi wasn't lying. They, those of the Akatsuki, would come for him, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone to get to him. He had to get stronger – _much_ stronger. Not just for his own sake but also for those close to him, the people he held dear, as they were now all potential targets simply by virtue of meaning something to him. He hated to think what could've happened to Rei if Itachi been someone like Orochimaru. It made him shudder and feel a sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"I'll be ready," he vowed out loud. 'No matter what, I have to get stronger. This isn't just about becoming Hokage anymore. This is about my life and everyone else's.'

He reluctantly got off the comfortable bed and put on the rest of the attire. He had some spare clothing sealed: simple black shinobi styled trousers and a long-sleeved, marine blue and black shirt. His other attire had been destroyed for the most part.

Lumbering over to the unconscious Uchiha he lightly punched him in the forehead. "Don't take too long, asshole." He remembered the deranged, bloodthirsty look in his rival's eyes. "We're going to have a talk when you get out of here." He wasn't going to let Orochimaru's Cursed Seal take his friend away from him, or his lust for vengeance for that matter.

The door opened again and Rei looked at him expectantly. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah…" he answered with one last look at his former teammate. As he joined her, she held out her hand.

She purposefully tried not to make eye contact. He relented and took her hand, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. "Do you mind if I shower at your place instead? My place is on the other side of the village and I can barely walk."

Rei thought for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Sure. It's about time you meet my sister anyway."

"Oh crap, that reminds me." Naruto then remembered as he held up his hands to create a Shadow Clone. "I have to let Ayame-neechan know I'm OK."

-ooo-

(Hospital Room 23)

Tsunade sat on a stool by Kakashi's bedside and took a deep breath. She mentally went over the procedure she was about to perform, measuring her own heartbeat, chakra reserves and oxygen intake purely by ritual habit. The procedure, as risky as it was, was still rather straightforward and simple compared to the other more challenging procedures she had performed in her time.

With practiced easer, green chakra sparked to life in her hand as though second nature, which it probably was by now after forty-five years of being a shinobi. Tsunade finalised her ritual and performed a quick diagnostic jutsu to take note of her patient's vitals and a slightly more complicated one to take note of his brainwaves. The Hokage then raised her other hand, which now also flared with green chakra and began to weave through a long and complicated string of hand seals.

Shizune's breath hitched as Tsunade muttered under her breath and placed her hands on Kakashi's temples to begin the treatment. Only she and the Sannin were in the small room they had moved Kakashi to. Tsunade would need absolute quiet in order to concentrate as she performed the jutsu.

The treatment required a high level of concentration but an even higher level of skill in chakra manipulation as it involved forcing foreign chakra into the brain in order to meddle with the patient's brainwaves to break the effects of Itachi's Tsukiyomi.

Tsunade's face crunched with concentration as she held her breath; beads of sweat began run down the side of her head.

"Come on…" Shizune whispered breathlessly as the heart monitor began to beep loudly in alarm. "Tsunade-sama…"

"Not yet, Shizune," the Godaime said just as breathlessly. "Almost there." She was about to relent her efforts as there was no telling what prolonged exposure to foreign chakra could do the brain, however, fortunately, it was just then when Kakashi's eyes opened.

Tsunade exhaled in relief as Shizune cried, "You did it!"

Kakashi blinked several times as his one visible eye cleared up. "Ho…Hokage-sama…"

"Good to see you awake again, Kakashi," Tsunade expressed as she wiped the sweat of her forehead with the back of her hand. "There's a lot I have to fill you in on."

-ooo-

Naruto welcomed the torrent of warm water as he stood in the shower, leaning on the wall below the showerhead, deep in thought. As refreshing as it was, his mind was too preoccupied to fully appreciate the comforting warmth. In a few short hours he would finally know who he was - who he _really_ was and where he came from. After fourteen long years, he was finally going to learn the truth about his parentage. How would he feel when he finally knew everything? Nothing would be the same anymore. He couldn't imagine how it would be.

"_I love you."_

He blinked several times; it was strange to think of her that way given how he knew next to nothing about her, only that she loved him and that she protected him from the Kyūbi at the cost of her own life.

"_Her name was Uzumaki Kushina…"_

How did the bastard fox even know that? He had killed hundreds if not thousands in its time according to the tales he had heard regarding the demonic fox. How would he even have known? It didn't make sense.

He let out a frustrated groan.

The whole concept of parents confused him. It had always been a mystery to the blond, as he never had any, not really anyway. The closest thing he ever had to a mother was Tsunade and that was only recently. He didn't really know what to think about that either. A lot of the time it felt like the Godaime was feeling guilty. Whether it was over the fact he looked so much like her long since deceased brother or something else, he didn't quite know. He was too scared to ask, if he had to be honest. He didn't even know what to begin to think of his father, whoever he was. Iruka was more like a big brother and Kakashi was, well, he didn't know what to think of his former jōnin supervisor. As odd as it was, the closest thing he had to a father was Jiraiya of all people.

'If my mother died, then what happened to my father?' he wondered as he ran a hand through his hair. 'Did he die as well or did he just leave me to rot?'

The closer it got to his time to meet with Tsunade the less confident he felt about finding out. There was just as much of a chance he'd walk away feeling worse and regretting ever finding out. Maybe he'd be happier if he never found out or maybe he would be better of waiting a few years?

_"There's… there's so much more I want to say… to teach you… I want to stay with you…"_

No, there was no turning back now. Hearing her voice was a cruel reminder of what he had lost without ever knowing.

Shaking his head wildly, Naruto turned the handles in the shower and stepped out the steaming cubicle. He dried himself off with a towel and looked around. He wasn't so sure where else he would change, so he pulled on his clothes in the bathroom.

The bathroom, he noticed, was rather plain. Much like the rest of the house. Even Rei's room was void of anything that defined her, aside from some medical books. Not a single non-necessity was to be seen. It made the place feeling oddly empty, _lifeless_ even, as though there were never any intentions to make the place into a home.

He finished drying his hair and dropped the towel in the hamper before joining Rei downstairs. Her sister had yet to come back from her shopping.

"How was your shower? " Rei asked as he joined her in the kitchen.

"It was okay, thanks."

She poured hot water in two cups of ramen and stirred before pushing the lids back on them. "Sorry we don't have anything else in the house."

"I love ramen." He sat down by the counter and looked around, noting the kitchen was as undefined as the rest of the house. Absolutely nothing stood out. "You and your sister aren't the decorative types, huh?"

"We moved here recently," Rei explained as she sat next to him by the counter. Had he picked up on it, he would've noticed it sounded a little rehearsed. "Are you nervous?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a nod, catching on to what she was referring to. There wasn't much else he felt nervous about these days. "It kind of feels like a dream. I guess I never really expected to find out about my parents. I guess I stopped hoping a long time ago."

Rei stared at him with an unreadable expression, taking in the melancholy look in his eyes. "My sister and I grew up in an orphanage," she said suddenly, and much to her own surprise, as though she wasn't sure why she suddenly felt like sharing that information.

Turning to look at her with widened eyes, Naruto couldn't help but be somewhat shocked. "You did?"

"But not here though." Rei clenched a hidden fist. 'What am I doing?' She never divulged anything personal about herself. Doing so went against everything she was taught.

"Tell me more about yourself," Naruto asked her as he took her free hand in his own. "You don't have to tell me everything or anything really personal. Just tell me about yourself. It doesn't matter what."

Rei looked hesitant for a moment, unable to look him in the eye. He sensed her discomfort and gave her hand a squeeze as though to tell her he was okay with it if she didn't want to talk. "My sister and I aren't related by blood."

"Really?" Naruto eyes an eyebrow at that. He looked around, expecting to find a picture of her somewhere for some odd reason. He found none, unsurprisingly. "Where did you meet, in the orphanage?"

Rei nodded. "She's an amazing person, my sister. She taught me a lot of things. I'm the person I am because of her. And she's a really good cook." For some reason, Rei found herself blushing when she noticed she was met with curious blue eyes taking in everything she had to say as though every word she uttered was fascinating.

"I grew up here in Konoha," Naruto said when she fell quiet. "I lived in the orphanage till I was eight."

"Did they kick you out?" she asked with a frown. "Because of the fox?"

He shook his head, laughing slightly at her expression. It was rather cute, though it would be best to keep that to himself. "No, I wanted to live on my own."

He expected the look of confusion. "Why?"

"I probably didn't realise it at the time to this extent but I just wanted to stand on my own two feet and live by my own terms without people telling me what to do and when to do it. I guess Sarugaku is right as far as my authority issues go anyway. Pretty ironic I want to be Hokage, huh?"

He was relieved to see it alleviated her discomfort somewhat as she smiled slyly. "Authority issues? That's putting it lightly."

For the next two hours or so they talked, discussing various topics; about themselves, their childhoods, memorable experiences and missions they had been on. Naruto did most of the talking but he slowly got Rei out of her shell more and more, and she had things to share, most of which wasn't as interesting as he had to tell her, like when he summoned Gamabunta for the first time, his mission in Wave or his training with Jiraiya, but he listened intently nonetheless.

Rei was a good listener and was as interested in his life as he was in hers, and so they just talked. For a while it seemed to be taking a dark turn when Naruto confided in her and told her about his burden of being a jinchūriki to much greater detail than he had shared with anyone, not even Hiruzen.

But it felt good talking about it, it felt good to know he _could _talk about it with her, that he didn't have to hide that part of himself from her. And so he told everything, how the isolation had hurt more than anything, of his fear for losing control and how he scared he was of the fact how he close he may have been to turning out like Gaara.

"Don't you hate him?" she had asked when he mentioned the Ichibi jinchūriki and a dark expression took him. "I asked Nara-san about it. He wasn't very helpful. Though he did say that he hasn't seen you in the same light since."

Truth be told he wasn't entirely sure why, but he shook his head. "Gaara… is complicated." He was being vague and he knew she didn't understand, nor could she understand. "Have you ever met someone that was so much like you but at the same time the complete opposite?"

"No," she shook her head. "I can't say I have."

"Well, it's like that with Gaara," he tried going with the analogy anyway. "One misstep and I could have ended up like him, and if he hadn't made that same misstep he could've been like me. It's strange knowing that, having that information in your head. It makes it impossible for me to hate him."

She cocked her head slightly with a question on the tip of her tongue she was anxious to ask. "Do you pity him?"

"No," he said reflexively. "Maybe…" he then considered, scratching his scalp with uncertainty. "I guess, in a way, I do, but it's not the same pity you feel for someone when they're hurt or in pain. It's weird, I can't really describe it, but if I had to, it's the kind of pity you feel for someone knowing they could have had a different life, one with some level of happiness."

He fell silent after at that, quite clearly deep in his own thoughts about the Ichibi's jinchūriki. Rei reached for his hand in a show of understanding, or at least an attempt at understanding. "I'm… I'm glad you turned out the way are. You're very kind, Naruto."

It was enough to break his thoughts and leave him slightly nonplussed as they leaned in to kiss.

The front door opened prompting them to straight as though they had been caught colluding in some conspiracy.

"Must be my sister," Rei said as she slid of her chair. From what they could hear, her sister was carrying several bags.

Naruto quickly followed, well aware that Rei's sister was pregnant. Turning into the hall, he saw her for the first time.

Her hair was sleek and black, done in a traditional hairstyle with an ornament pin. Her skin was pale and her eyes a curious shade of dark blue. She was attractive, even in her simplistic green and purple flower-print kimono, and she was considerably womanlier than her younger sister with her, long legs, defined cheekbones and generous bust. She vaguely reminded Naruto of a younger and even haughtier Kurenai with straight hair.

Most notably, she had a sizeable baby bump in her stomach area. He couldn't quite tell when she was due, but she must have been pregnant for a good while like Rei had told him.

"Jun-neesama," Rei frowned at the sight of plastic bags in her sister's hands. "You're not supposed to be doing any heavy lifting."

Naruto moved quickly, picking up what was left on the floor. "Hello, my name is-"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Jun eyed him blankly for a while, staring at him will dull, uninterested eyes. For a moment he feared she would tell him to get out of her house. Fortunately, she smiled warmly instead and pulled him in for a light embrace to plant a kiss on his cheeks. It left him flustered; he decided to merely bow his head and put away the groceries in the kitchen.

"Aren't you helpful, Naruto-kun." The older sister smiled serenely.

"It's nothing."

Rei eyed her sister and gave an encouraging nod.

Naruto returned moments later, having caught the time in the kitchen. "I should go, I don't want to be late."

There was an awkward exchange of looks. He didn't know whether he ought to kiss Rei in front of her sister, thus decided against it and pulled on his sandals on the way out. "It was nice meeting you."

"And you, Naruto-kun," Jun returned with a serene smile.

As the door closed behind him the sisters turned to look at one another. The serene smile on Jun's graceful features disappeared and was replaced by a sterner expression.

Rei pretended not to notice and turned to the stairs.

-ooo-

The Senju compound wasn't too far from the Hokage Tower. Naruto had been there a few times before, with his academy class and on his own when he was wandering about. The compound was small, much smaller than it once had been at the height of the Senju's power. Where there had once been a small district complete with its own markets and bath houses and such, the compound was now a set of small houses and storage facilities and one large house detached and on top of a hill, beautifully framed by forestry and a perpetual steam from the natural onsen in the gardens. **(1)**

Naruto released his Propulsion Palms and touched down. He rubbed his smarting wrists, making a note to find a way to master the jutsu and find a way around the agonising pain. At the moment he was basically pumping chakra into his Reppūshō to fly unsteadily and rather slow compared to what he could achieve on foot, if not for the stiffness. 'But practice makes perfect,' he reasoned.

It was a short distance uphill to the clan house. In the back of his head he vaguely remembered the class he had in academy. The Shodai, using his Mokuton, created the Senju compound by hand.

As he distracted himself with that thought, he passed the tall, arching gates to the house and came to a stop in the courtyard. He could see lights burning and several shadows. They were waiting for him.

'This is it.' Naruto clenched his fists and took a deep breath and exhaled. His heart started beating faster and he found his throat dry with anxiousness. 'This is it,' he told himself once more as he crossed the courtyard and walked into the house.

…

Tsunade was the first to notice him as he walked in on bare feet. "Naruto," she greeted tersely. "Have a seat."

Naruto looked around the spacious living room. Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Shizune and Kakashi were all waiting for him, sitting in a half circle on the couch.

"Sensei." He was relieved to see Kakashi on his feet again, although with crutches nearby. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "It's good to see you too, Naruto." He then glanced at the Sannin and Sandaime. "Though I have to say I'm a little surprised."

Naruto sat down opposite them, eyeing the scroll on the low table suspiciously. "No offense, sensei, but why are you here?"

"You'll know in a minute," Kakashi replied vaguely.

"Okay…" Naruto said agreed slowly as he eyed the Sandaime. Hiruzen's unreadable expression mystified him. "I guess this is it."

Tsunade nodded and reached for the scroll on the table. "Then let's get started."

Jiraiya put his hand on hers. "One moment," he interrupted. The Slug Princess nodded to him so the Toad Sage looked Naruto in the eye. "Are you sure about this, Naruto?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto snapped irritably.

Jiraiya had the same unreadable expression as Hiruzen, though there was a hint of apprehension. "What you're about to learn will change everything. If you're not ready for that, just say the word, and I promise you we can do this another time."

Naruto grit his teeth, glaring at the Sannin. "I've gone fourteen years without knowing where I come from-"

"Then what's another year or two?"

"No," he ground out. How could Jiraiya do this, to try and get in the way of him learning the truth? "Maybe that was an option two weeks ago, but not anymore. I can't turn away from this now, not after I've seen her. So tell me, I don't care which one of you, just tell me who I am – who I _really _am and where I come from."

Jiraiya sighed and relented, nodding to Tsunade as he leaned back. "Suit yourself, kid. It's your decision."

"Damn right it is."

Tsunade cleared her throat and unfurled the scroll on the table. It looked like a simple storage scroll he could've created by now even with his limited skill. Or so he thought, as the Godaime bit her thumb and smeared blood over the seal array. Whatever was inside that scroll was apparently worth securing with a blood seal.

The seal glowed and went up in a pillar of smoke, revealing several items on the low table: a photo album, some trinkets and other scrolls.

Naruto swallowed thickly and nodded to Tsunade.

"Your mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina, she died shortly after giving birth to you on the night the Kyūbi attacked, but you already know that," she began slowly. "And your father…" Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya momentarily; the Sage merely nodded with a sigh. "Your father was Namikaze Minato, _the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha_."

Words alone would never be enough to describe what _hit _him upon hearing the truth. It was as though he was suddenly struck with a payload of emotions of such a magnitude his brain couldn't hope to keep track of all of them, swirling around in his head. Joy, anger, relief and complete and utter shock were at the forefronts of his mind.

He tried to speak but he could not find the words, much less articulate them, not that he trusted his voice a that moment.

Picking up on this, Tsunade decided to continue. "I know this is a lot to take in, Naruto, but please listen closely." He nodded dumbly, almost absentmindedly. "Your mother came from Uzu no Kuni, the whirlpool lands. She was born in Uzushiogakure, or rather, what was left of it. Konoha and Uzushio had always been close, ever since my grandfather and the head of Uzumaki Clan, the founders of Uzushio, established their villages. In fact, the Senju Clan and Uzumaki Clan are relatives."

Tsunade paused for a moment to see if he followed her still. "Uzushiogakure was wiped out decades ago in the incident known only to a few in this world known as the Silent Massacre of Uzushiogakure. **(2)** It happened long before your mother was born. She was one of the few that came here but with her gone you are now truly the last known member of the Uzumaki Clan."

She didn't like the blank look in Naruto's eyes but continued regardless.

"Kushina grew up in this very house when she moved to Konoha, she lived with my grandmother, Uzumaki Mito…"

Naruto momentarily forgot about his father. "_Uzumaki _Mito?"

"Yes," Tsunade nodded. "She was the wife of the Shodai, my grandfather." The Slug Princess paused for a moment. "And she was _the first jinchūriki of the Kyūbi._"

"_What?_" Naruto burst out with clenched his fists. "The Shodai's wife was a jinchūriki – she was like me?"

"Mito-sama was indeed a jinchūriki much like yourself, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen decided to weigh in. "She came to be one around the time... Well, I suppose this would be going in a completely different direction. Another time perhaps."

Frustrated by the sudden turn, Naruto rubbed his eyes and held his head as he came to grips with the revelations. "Uzumaki Mito must have been practically ancient by the time my mother came around," Naruto said voicing his thoughts out loud. "If my mother lived her, with the _Shodai's wife_, there must have been a reason for that."

He looked up to find noticeable surprise in their eyes. "The fox knew my mother's name..." He pieced it together before he said it. "My mother was a jinchūriki, wasn't she?"

"That is correct," Hiruzen confirmed gravely.

"So she was brought here just for that?" he demanded hotly. "You brought my mother over her to make her a jinchūriki? Don't tell me that's what she wanted – _nobody _wants this!" he burst out so angrily Shizune flinched.

Hiruzen shared a look with Tsunade before answering. "What you have to understand, Naruto-kun, is that Uzumaki Mito was old and dying. There was a need for a new jinchūriki. It had to be your mother."

"_Why?_" Naruto glared at the Sandaime. He couldn't quite remember the last time he had been angry with the man he respected more than anyone. "Out of all the people you could have picked, and I know you had to be involved in this on some level old man, why did you pick my mother? She wasn't from this country so why did she have to be the sacrifice?"

"I suppose I should tell you something about your heritage before I answer this question," Hiruzen mused aloud. "The Uzumaki were known for a great many things. They were great scholars, ironic perhaps given your and your mother's dislike for reading, but what they were known most for, aside from their skill in fūinjutsu, was their longevity and vitality."

Naruto frowned with confusion. "Our vitality? What does that even mean?"

"Naruto-kun, your clan was known for its potent chakra that allowed them to live extraordinary long lives and perform feats impossible to the the average person. And even amongst Uzumaki, your mother's chakra was incredibly powerful," Hiruzen tried to explain as simply as possible. "Forgive me if I offend you, and I mean that sincerely, but your mother was the perfect choice to be the Kyūbi's second host."

At this point, Tsunade opened the photo album on the table and turned it for Naruto to see. "Shinobi don't tend to have these, but your mother was very big on friends and family. This should… _help _explaining things."

While his mind tried to wrap around the fact his mother was a jinchūriki, his eyes fell on a picture of her. If he hadn't realised it already in the genjutsu, he sure did now. 'She's beautiful.'

The grin she wore in the picture was vibrant and full of life and laughter. He could instinctively tell he took after her more than he did his father. The picture seemed to calm him somehow, putting a halt to the questions he has burning on the tip of his tongue.

"Your mother was a tomboy growing up, but she sure grew up to be a beauty," Jiraiya pointed out to him. "Minato didn't stand a chance."

It was just then that Naruto was aware more than ever Jiraiya was the Yondaime's teacher. "You were my dad's sensei."

"Your father was a man unlike any other, Naruto. You would have liked him," the Sage said nostalgically. "Though I have to say you take more after your mother. Kushina had an ill temper that could match that of Tsunade's," the Godaime bristled at this, "And she liked to pull pranks when she was kid. In fact, Minato was on the receiving end of those a lot of the time. Well, up until-"

"_Jiraiya,_" Hiruzen spoke up, silencing the Sage. Naruto's questioning look did not go unnoticed. "There is a lot of history when it comes to your parents, Naruto-kun. And we will tell you in due course, but for now, let us stick to what's important."

"Alright," Naruto agreed reluctantly. "So my mother was a jinchūriki… And my dad made me one after her. What happened?"

"That… would be one of those things we cannot tell you presently, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen answered before Tsunade had the chance to. "For now, all I can tell you is that the Kyūbi escaped at a time where a jinchūriki is most vulnerable: at childbirth. There were other factors," he was quick to add when he saw the look of shock in his surrogate grandson's eyes. "Other factors that exacerbated the situation to the point the Kyūbi could escape. I hope you can find some comfort in knowing your parents saved the village."

"Yeah, at the cost of their lives, and for what?" A dark rage filled Naruto up as he came to realise exactly how much his parents had sacrificed and how little they had gotten in return. "My mother and father died protecting this village and for what? So their only son could be treated like some fucking pariah?"

"Naruto…" Hiruzen tried empathising.

"Where the hell were you?" Naruto spat at Jiraiya and Tsunade. "You were my dad's sensei, you talk about him as if he was your son, but what about me? Didn't you care at all? And what about you, Baachan? You're my… whatever it is you are to me, we're related by blood. Why were neither of you around?"

The Sannin looked as though they wished he hadn't asked that question. He didn't care.

"Naruto-kun, Tsunade-sama was in no position to take care of a child," Shizune said quietly.

"And Jiraiya-sama was and still is crucial to Konoha's intelligence gathering. Without his work, we would have been in even more danger after the Kyūbi attack," Kakashi added.

Naruto snapped his head at the silver-haired jōnin. "Why are you even here, sensei? "

"Flip the page," Kakashi instructed.

Naruto grit his teeth but did as Kakashi said. Upon turning the page he found himself looking at a picture with writing scribbled next to it that read: _'Kakashi! Congratulations on making it to jōnin. I'm so proud of you!'_ The picture was of his father with standing next to a thirteen-year old Kakashi.

Naruto swallowed the lump in throat. "When were you going to tell me?" he asked quietly.

"I wanted to tell you the first time I met you," Kakashi answered truthfully. "But Sandaime-sama ordered me not to. He was worried for your safety in case you were ever found out."

"What does that even mean?" Naruto glared from Kakashi to the retired Hokage.

"Well," Jiraiya interjected calmly as he picked his ear. "I don't know if you remember your history lessons kid, but Minato made a lot of enemies. And so did your mother. If anyone ever found you were their son, there would be no telling what could have happened."

"You say that but you had no trouble with sticking me in an orphanage and letting be on my own for the past thirteen years, did you?" Naruto spat accusingly. "Save the excuses, all of you. It doesn't change anything."

Jiraiya stared blankly at Naruto. "Get over yourself."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Naruto jumped to his feet in anger.

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Agonising over our past mistakes and shortcomings won't change anything. It certainly isn't making you feel better, is it?"

Naruto clenched his fists so tight his nails dug into the palms of his hand. "And what do you know?"

"You're not the only orphan in this room, kid," Jiraiya informed him coolly. "I grew up during the war, I killed a man at a age before you even stopped wetting the bed. Kakashi here is no different, he was probably still in diapers when he became a ninja."

"Thanks for that," Kakashi muttered quietly.

Jiraiya ignored him and crossed his arms as he eyed the young jinchūriki. "Sure, you were stuck housing the fox, and I sympathise with you on that level, kid, but realise this: just because you were dealt a bad hand in life, doesn't mean you have to cry about it."

Naruto wanted to open his mouth and shout and scream and trash the place, but what Jiraiya was saying run through.

"Now I'm sorry to crash your little pity party before anyone got drunk on angst, I really am, but know this, every single one of us in this room cares about you," Jiraiya continued as blunt as ever. "Did we fuck up in the past? Yeah, excuses aside, I'm sure we could've done better. And hey, I would've been pretty upset too if I knew there was ever a chance I could have had Hime here for a wet-nurse," Tsunade glared at the Sage who pretended not to notice, "But here's what's going to happen, kid. You're going to get over this and you're going to stop feeling sorry for yourself because you're better than that. I'll hit you if you don't, Uzumaki Naruto! That's what Kushina would have done."

By the end of it, Naruto was speechless. There was nothing he could say now that wouldn't make him look like a petulant child. So he did the only thing he could do; he sat back down and fell quiet.

Kakashi was the first to break the silence. "Kushina-neesan did have a certain way with people," he noted dryly.

As odd as it was in the situation, they all laughed as they remembered her with fondness. Even Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile.

When the laughter died down, Naruto began paging through the photo album, quite unsure what to feel and what to think when he looked over pictures of his mother, his father and the people part of their lives. "Who's this?" he asked as he pointed at a peculiar picture.

In the picture, there was a black-haired kid with massive grin on his face and a birthday cake in front of him. He was holding a pair of goggles in his hands as Kushina was leant in to kiss him on the cheek. It was probably why he was blushing madly.

For some reason the room fell silent and eyes fell on Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"That's Uchiha Obito, my teammate and one of your father's students," Kakashi answered after a second. "He was quite fond of Kushina-neesan."

Naruto turned to the picture again and felt a tug at his stomach. "What happened to him?"

"He died a long time ago," Jiraiya informed with a nod to Kakashi who looked relieved not to answer the question himself. "He was an oddity amongst the Uchiha Clan."

"And an outsider," Kakashi added. "He felt closer to us, his team and Kushina, than he did to his own clan. It was Kushina who threw his birthday party."

"Oh." It was all he could say. The fact that Uzumaki Kushina was such a lively and vibrant woman made him happy, it made up him proud to know she was a hero and a person capable of incredible love.

It also left him saddened even more knowing what he missed out on.

"And this girl?" Naruto tapped a picture of Minato, Obito and a girl with square purple marks on her cheek. She seemed very pretty, she reminded him of Rei. "Nohara Rin," he read the annotation aloud. "Your other teammate?"

Kakashi nodded. "She died a long time ago," he said quietly. It was clear this was the last thing he wanted to talk about, even more so than Obito.

Picking up on this, Naruto decided to focus on his father. "I'm the Yondaime's son…"

"Indeed you are, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen affirmed with a twinge of guilt. "It's a shame you never got to meet him. You would have liked him."

Naruto simply nodded as he continued to stare at the picture. "It doesn't surprise me for some reason," he admitted. "I kind of feel like I already knew but didn't. Do you know what I mean?"

None of them knew what he meant. He hadn't expected them to. "It kind of feels like it should have been obvious."

"You look a lot like him," Jiraiya commented on his turn. "You have your mother's personality but you take after Minato physically."

"Do you have any picture of – never mind, found it." He turned a few pages of photos and found one with a much younger Jiraiya close to the camera with a trio of young children on his right; they all looked no older than ten. One of the first things Naruto noticed was that they were all boys and that the one of the far left reminded him of someone he knew. The one in the middle had a hairstyle that reminded him of chickens for some reason.

Though he knew he shouldn't have, Naruto was more than a little surprised he looked nearly identical to his father at that age, though he had slightly chubby cheeks and the whiskers; he subconsciously stroked at them realising his facial features, save his eyes and hair were closer to his mother's than his father's.

"Jiraiya," he looked up from the picture to the Toad Sage. "Why was your team all boys?" A part of him knew he only asked the question because he couldn't come with up anything else to say.

"Regulations were a little different back then after the Second Shinobi World War, kiddo," Jiraiya answered a moment later. "For some reasons the powers that be tried to see if Iwa had the right idea when it came males for fighting and females for supporting… and other things." Jiraiya didn't elaborate as to what he was alluding; Naruto was grateful. "It was an experiment that didn't last very long, but your parents were in that generation."

"So… where are they now?" Naruto asked tapping on the other two members of Team Jiraiya. "Are they…?"

"No," Hiruzen said quickly, for some odd reason.

Naruto gave the old man a quizzical look before turning to Jiraiya. "They're both alive," Jiraiya answered. "The one in the middle, the pretty boy that looks like a girl, his name is, well, he doesn't go by it these days, but you know his other name."

"I do?" Naruto asked with confusion. "When did I meet him?"

"At the hospital before we were sent looking for Tsunade."

With little thought, the answer struck him immediately. "_Rooster _is your former student?" he burst out, nearly jumping to his feet. "Why didn't you say anything?" It struck him as odd that neither had said anything to one another when they were in the room. Granted, Rooster – 'What the hell is his real name?' – wasn't in the room for long, but still… he couldn't even imagine having that kind of relationship with Kakashi or Jiraiya.

Jiraiya struggled to find an answer, thus Tsunade jumped in. "That's a story for another time, Naruto," she interjected with a meaningful look at the young blond.

'That's another old wound I picked at without meaning to,' Naruto realised with a twinge of guilt. "Sorry."

Jiraiya muttered his dismissal of the apology and reached for the photo album, turning another page. "There's something I want you to see. You're going to love it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as his eyes fell on a picture of his mother. He nearly did a double take as he realised how much the picture looked like that of Team 7; a woman with sleek, black hair and a _facemask _stood behind three students. Kushina was on the left side, a Hyūga was in the middle and a girl with raven black hair was on the right.

"EH?" he burst out as he looked up from the picture, looking directly at Kakashi as though the Copy Nin had grown another head. "She looks like – is she your…"

For his part, Kakashi merely nodded with a thin smile. "I never met her, but that is my mother."

There were so many questions on his mind, but for some inexplicable reason he posed the most asinine one. "Is that why you wear a mask?"

Kakashi eye-smiled and chuckled uncomfortably as the other adults visibly tried to restrain their own amusement at his expense.

"So let me get this straight," he said after while. "You taught Jiraiya," he said to Hiruzen, who then nodded as he turned the Toad Sage. "And you taught my dad."

Jiraiya grinned proudly. "Damn right."

"And in turn my dad taught you," Naruto finished as he looked to Kakashi with a dull look in his eyes.

"And I taught you," Kakashi nodded. "Though not as well as I should have, admittedly."

"What I don't understand is why none of you ever said anything," Naruto said sounding both hurt and frustrated. "Maybe you weren't in any position to take care of me, but why didn't any of you say something – _anything_?"

They looked at one another once more; Naruto found their silent communication getting a tad annoying now. He didn't like being kept out of the loop. "There is no legitimate reason why none of you could tell me, is there? You just left me on my own, not knowing what to think of my parents, or where I came from. Do you know what this feels like?"

"I've got a pretty good idea," Jiraiya remarked.

"No, you don't!" Naruto snapped at him angrily. "You actually knew my parents! You knew who they were – hell, you practically raised my father!" He was shouting again, but he couldn't care less. If they had thought telling him exactly how close they were to him would make him less angry, they couldn't have been more wrong. It only made things worse to know they could've done something to spare his misery, even if only a little, but _chose_ not to.

"You said you're my fucking godfather." Naruto glared at the Sage. "Where were you when I needed you? Why didn't you take me with you or put me in someone else's care? I had no idea who you were until a few months ago."

"I thought we already covered this, kid," Jiraiya tried to reason.

"That was before I found out I had a family out there that chose not to do anything to save me the _absolute fucking misery _that was my childhood! You failed my parents, Jiraiya. They should've never trusted you to pull through for me. What were they even thinking, with all your gambling and whoring around?"

His words cut Jiraiya deeper than any blade, he knew it without even looking at the stricken expression on his godfather as he fell silent.

"Naruto…"

He wasn't finished yet, and rounded on the Sandaime. "And don't you even try to justify any of this. You fucked up even more than Jiraiya did. All these years you were playing the role of my "jiichan" you held me at arm's length. You could have helped me, you could have taken me in and given me a family, you could have been there more for me, but you weren't!" He felt like breaking things now. Fortunately his tirade had him standing and distanced from the mementos. He would have surely regretted destroying them once he calmed down. "Do you have any idea what it is like to be hated by the entire village without knowing why? To have this thing inside of you that wants nothing more than to rip you apart, take control and destroy _everything _you care about if you slip up just _once_? No shit Gaara went crazy! It's a _fucking miracle_ I haven't!"

Many years ago, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't have been even remotely fazed by the youngster's tirade. The words of angry teenagers had little effect on him; it was probably why his two sons were so distant from him. But a lot had changed over the past few years. As Hokage, he had no choice but to be at least partially involved in the world of politics. He cared little for the doubletalk and innuendo of politics as a young man. He always preferred to settle things with actions. Being Hokage came with its down sides as well as privileges, and thus Hiruzen quickly adapted, creating this inner persona he named simply 'The Sandaime'. As the Sandaime, he never let emotions cloud his judgment; he made decisions with his mind, not his heart. Only a few times had this mask cracked. Once when his eldest, Kaen, left the village to find his own path. He had stayed his hand then to prevent a bounty being put on him. Another when Asuma claimed he hated him and left to join the Twelve Shinobi Guard. Then there was the time he found out Orochimaru, the closest thing to filling the void Kaen left him, turned out to be responsible for the kidnappings that had been happening. The most recent and most painful had been when Biwako died. There had been only a few other moments since and between, but those three were the freshest on his mind.

And now he could add another, as the words of the once cheerfully little child that looked up to him with nothing but affection and reverence, glared at him with cold, hurt eyes that screamed the pain and betrayal.

Unlike Jiraiya, Hiruzen was far older and frail. Though he forgot this for a moment as he stood to approach the youngster. "Naruto…"

Naruto wanted to shout at him to stay away. He even wanted to push the old man back.

All his anger melt away as soon as the Sandaime fell forward midstride.

"Jiichan!" He jumped forward and caught the old man before the others were even on their feet. "Baachan!" Unrelenting fear and panic filled his voice, but he didn't even notice as a cold, sinking feeling settled in his stomach like ice.

Tsunade carried the Sandaime to the couch where Kakashi had been sitting on as Shizune ran off to fetch water. "Relax, he's just a little stressed. He'll be fine after a moment."

Naruto lost all feeling in his legs and fell on his backside. He felt a heavy weight shame and guilt, but more than that, he only just realised how scared he had been in that one moment. It was the kind of fear he hadn't felt since Wave, when he believed Sasuke to have been dead. Though, this time it was a tidal wave compared to before.

Jiraiya picked up on his distraught. "That wasn't your fault. Just relax, the old man is going to be fine."

"I nearly killed him," Naruto said in a hoarse voice as though he was close to crying.

"Of course not!" Shizune half-shouted at him as she handed the glass of water to Tsunade. "Sandaime-sama is going to be fine in a minute. Just… calm down," she finished in a more soothing voice.

"They're right," Kakashi agreed firmly. "Come on, let's step outside for a minute and get some fresh air."

Kakashi guided Naruto by the shoulder as he led him outside to the balcony attached to the siting room by glass slide doors. Jiraiya looked like he wanted to tag along but seemingly decided against it and stayed inside.

…

Moments later Naruto stood on a deck and leant over the railing, letting out a long groan and rubbing his face with exhaustion he hadn't felt earlier. Kakashi said nothing, remaining tactfully silent as he tried to come to terms with all he had learned moment since he had come to the house. "My father was the Yondaime Hokage."

Kakashi sensed the young blond wasn't fishing for an answer and thus gave none, only nodding slightly.

"My mother was Uzumaki Kushina. She was the Kyūbi's jinchūriki before me." His voice was monotone now, as though his mind was absent and he was merely stating facts. "She was taught by your mother." He turned to Kakashi as his sensei joined him by the railing. "You know that's weird, right?"

Kakashi gave a light chuckle as laid back as always. "I suppose it is."

"What was her name?" He was curious to find out a little more about the person that trained his mother and give birth to his sensei.

There was a hint of mirth in Kakashi's eye. "Chidori," he answered simply.

Naruto eyed the silver-haired man for a long moment. "You named your jutsu after her."

"Yes I did." The Copy Nin was leaning on the railing next to him now, his eye on gazing over the village.

The silence that followed lasted to long for Naruto's tastes. "So what's with the masks?"

Kakashi didn't answer immediately, laughing quietly to himself at the question. "My mother hailed from the Okute Clan, a clan of independent Hunter Ninja from Kaminari no Kuni. From a young age, Okute children are inducted into clan's traditions, which include wearing facemasks. I never knew my mother but I wanted to honour her in my own way."

Naruto found himself questioning whether he had ever truly known Kakashi prior to this evening. He always thought he had a good idea who his sensei was and what he was about, though as it turned out he clearly didn't. He certainly hadn't known about the more pensive side of his sensei he was seeing now. There was more to Hatake Kakashi, elite Konoha ninja and jōnin supervisor to Team 7, and he felt somewhat ashamed he was only just finding out. The level of trust Kakashi had shown in telling him about his family wasn't lost on him. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Kakashi-sensei." He meant that more than he could possibly convey.

"I knew about you all this. Consider us even now on that front," Kakashi said only half-jokingly. They both knew they were never going to be 'even' as far as that went, but Naruto smiled nonetheless. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when I should've been, Naruto." The blonde's smiled faded; it was rather unnerving to see his sensei so apologetic. "Minato-sensei was like a father to me. I should've returned the favour."

Naruto hated excuses but he hated seeing people care about beat themselves up even more; Kakashi was the least guilty of the lot anyway. "No offence, sensei, but I doubt you would've had any idea what to do with me when you were only a kid yourself."

"Maybe."

"You still have no excuse for me screwing me over when you were my sensei though." Naruto wasn't that forgiving. Kakashi had shown favouritism to Sasuke and more or less pawned him off to Ebisu even though there was most likely nothing that man could have done to prepare him to fight Neji and win. "You never taught me anything as useful as the Chidori and you blew me off when I asked about it."

He half expected and half wanted Kakashi to be defensive about it, he still had some anger left in him. Whether Kakashi picked up on it though or not, he didn't give him the opportunity, merely nodding apologetically. "I know you still look up to me," Kakashi said quietly. Naruto didn't deny it nor could he; Kakashi was one of the people that had inspired him them most to strive for more than himself and to put his life on the line for the sake of his comrades. "I wish things were the same as when we just met, that you could still be the same naïve kid and I could be the hero you thought I was."

Naruto said nothing as Kakashi turned to him with a look in his eyes he could only describe as a mixture of regret and self-loathing; neither of which were for his sake, or at least not entirely. "Even heroes have their demons, Naruto. This eye," he didn't have to gesture for the teenager to realise what he was talking about. "It was a gift from someone who I believe truly understood what being shinobi meant."

"Uchiha Obito." It felt odd speaking the name of a dead person, as strange as when he said his father's name. "That's his Sharingan, isn't it?"

Kakashi nodded again and looked in front of him. "Obito gave it to me the day he died. I promised him to… Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I failed to keep my promise to Obito and to make up for it, I tried to redeem myself in teaching Sasuke what Obito taught me, to protect my comrades with my own life."

There was a poignant pause that lasted only a moment. "You're a lot like him, Naruto."

Who would've thought it? Uzumaki Naruto was actually happy to be considered similar to an Uchiha.

"Still, my desire to redeem myself shouldn't have come at the cost of your training, Naruto. I'm sorry."

At this point Naruto knew that holding that grudge would simply be childish and counterproductive, so he merely grunted his forgiveness. He was never one to kick a man while he's down. Though maybe he'd do some kicking when the man was on feet again.

Another awkward silence lasted longer than he felt comfortable with; enough to make him strike up another conversation. "So your mother was my mother's sensei, huh?" Naruto scratched his cheek in thought. "That's kind of weird."

"It gets weirder," Kakashi informed with a genuine smile as he reached into his breast pocket and showed him the picture of his mother's genin team, indicating the girl on the right. "Who does she remind you of?"

Naruto squinted his eyes at the girl: she was rather cute with her raven hair and pale skin, but there was something _off _about those pitch black eyes. They reminded him of another pair of eyes that, for the majority of the time, had looked at him with disdain.

"_Get the fuck out of here!_" Naruto exclaimed as he realised exactly who he was looking at. In his surprise he hadn't realised in whose company he swore. "This is – that's Sasuke's…!"

Kakashi actually laughed heartily; it was more than just a little unusual and a tiny bit creepy. "I told you it gets weirder." Kakashi then added. "Her name was Mikoto-san. And the Hyūga girl in the middle is Hyūga Hikari, Hinata's mother."

"Hinata's mother?" Naruto repeated to which they nodded. That was hardly as surprising, but he gave a heavy sigh nonetheless and ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his face as he allowed himself a moment for the information to sink in. "My head is going to explode."

Kakashi chuckled at this expense as he handed him the picture for the blond to scrutinize. "I can't believe it." Looking at the picture he immediately noticed how all three girls seemed to be the best of friends rather than rivals. "I can't believe they got along."

"They grew apart later in life but were still good friends from what I can tell," Kakashi informed still chuckling. "I believe there was even talk of Mikoto-san being your godmother."

Naruto stared blankly at Kakashi. "That's definitely a lie."

"You got me. But I wouldn't have been surprised if it had happened," the jōnin admitted. "Though Kushina-neesan would have probably picked Hikari-san instead. The Uchiha's didn't like her very much, least of all Uchiha Fugaku – Sasuke's father."

Naruto glared at Kakashi as though he were responsible. "Why is that?"

"Your father became Hokage, thereby ruining the Uchiha's first real chance at the position since the founding of Konoha. They were rivals for the job, Minato-sensei and Fugaku-san. By all means, Fugaku-san had the advantage of being born to one of the most prominent clans in the village with the support of many, but your father was a once in a lifetime genius, Naruto. The difference in power was simply far too great and after the Third Shinobi World War Konoha was feared so much because of him. Ultimately that's why your father became Yondaime." Though there was more to the story, Kakashi knew now was not the time to discuss it at length; stories of the founding of Konoha and the Uchiha's inferiority complex would have to be shelved for another time.

"What was it like being around my dad?" Naruto asked looking up to Kakashi, who tall frame was the more prominent up close. "Jiraiya doesn't talk all that much about him."

Kakashi took a moment to formulate his response. "Minato-sensei was a great teacher. I looked up to him, but more than that, I wanted to _be_ just like him. Minato-sensei always knew what to do, he never lost his cool and always put everyone else before himself in the battlefield. He was one of a kind."

Naruto gripped the railing tightly. There was a strange sensation in his chest; he felt happy, proud even, but also melancholy about it all. His father was the Yondaime – the _Yondaime_! "I wish I could have known him."

"Me too," Kakashi nodded.

They remained there, standing in silence as they looked across the village from the balcony as the evening sun began to set and the sky turned a beautiful shade of blue and orange and a light breeze picked up. The days were getting shorter and a little colder in November. Neither sensei nor student said a word; they had said all that needed to be said for now.

'He's growing up,' Kakashi thought as he glanced at the young shinobi, noting the look in his eyes as he took in the beauty of the village hidden amongst the leaves. The scarecrow wanted to say something, he wasn't quite sure what; words of encouragement? Reassurance perhaps? None came to mind at first until they did. "I'm proud of you."

Stunned orbs of blue widened as the jinchūriki turned to the older man. He was at a loss for words, but was saved from having to fumble for them as the balcony door slid aside and Shizune beckoned them inside.

Kakashi walked past him without another word and he followed a moment later.

…

Inside they found Hiruzen was back on his feet, so to speak. Tsunade laid him down on the couch and placed an empty glass on the table. "Take it easy, sensei."

"Naruto, I hope you can forgive me for falling on you. Please do not blame yourself," Hiruzen said after much couching. "It is true, all of what you said. I would not have collapsed so pathetically if it wasn't."

"Jiichan, please don't-"

Hiruzen shook his head and held up a hand to silence him. "No, I will allow no more excuses. You will have no memory of this, but when you were an infant, you were not in the care of the orphanage, but in mine. I considered adopting you into the clan and raise you myself. I had just lost my dear Biwako back then, but there were others that could have helped me."

"Then why didn't you? You took care of me when I was a baby… why did you send me to the orphanage?"

The Professor let out a heavy sigh. "The clan took to you immediately. There were no objections to you becoming one of us, but there were other elements that opposed the idea. Some wanted to turn you into a weapon to compensate for the lives lost in the attack. Others believed it would be too dangerous to even let you live and wanted you dead." Hiruzen shook his head, crestfallen. "In the end there were too many reasons why we could not take you. The popular opinion amongst the non-shinobi was that if we took you in, the Sarutobi Clan would have to take in all others that were left orphanage by the attack, and perhaps even those before it. Amongst the shinobi clans there were objections to us taking you because they feared we would use your status as jinchūriki as leverage. In the end… we decided against inducting you into our clan. Had we not done so there is no telling what such strife could have led to, certainly not after our village was left so vulnerable and without its Hokage to protect it." Hiruzen let out a sigh, a tired and anguished sigh as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "However," he said as he found his voice once more, "In retrospect, I should have disregarded those who opposed the idea of Sarutobi Naruto and I should taken you in and given you the family you've always longed for. _I am so sorry, Naruto._"

The teenager in question was left wide-eyed and stunned. _Numb_ was the only word that came close to describing what he felt, for there it was, the reason why his entire life up until that was, the reason for his loneliness, the secrecy and half truths, the reason why he had to struggle through live, clawing his way inch by inch.

There had once been an opportunity for a family with his own, with Jiraiya, or with the Sarutobi Clan, or perhaps even with Tsunade in some parallel universe.

And yet the one thing he desired the most, more than acknowledgment, more than becoming Hokage, he was denied.

By whom, for what, why? It hardly mattered to him, he couldn't bring himself to be angry with Hiruzen, nor the village and or its council that had bartered with his life as though he was nothing but stock to be used as leverage for their own gain. Why wasn't he angry? He had every right to be. He had every right to scream, to feel angry and betrayed and cheated; he had every right to want his vengeance against everyone who had wronged him, who had wronged his parents by disregarding their sacrifice and by making him the scapegoat, the target for their animosity and disdain. He every reason to feel this way, so why didn't he?

Maybe he was angry only he didn't know it yet? Would he suddenly erupted like a volcano, spewing scorching hatred, burning down everything that reminded him of the hurt and loneliness? He didn't know, and if he had to be honest, he was afraid of the answer.

He noticed that quite some time had passed without saying anything.

"Do I have any relatives left?" He hardly recognised his own voice. He sounded so empty he couldn't blame them for being disturbed by it. "Do I have anyone out there I can actually call family?"

"Your father came from a small shinobi clan. The Namikaze Clan have been around for as long as Konoha has. Unfortunately most Namikaze died young and your father was no exception **(3)**," Hiruzen answered quietly. "As for your mother's side… I am certain there are other Uzumaki out there still, though the odds they go by that name are slim."

He looked up at that, blinking several times. "What?"

"There is something you need to understand, Naruto," Jiraiya began to explain with a mindful glance at Hiruzen, who looked thankful not to speak and helped himself to another glass of water. Naruto tried not to look his godfather in the eye. "The Uzumaki Clan go back in history farther than any clan I know off. They were masters of fūinjutsu and were feared for their knowledge. They also had a thing for, well, let's just say they were dabbling in things they shouldn't have."

"What do you mean?"

Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's a lot I can't tell you right now because explaining it would not only take hours, you wouldn't quite understand, and that information is too dangerous to be given out to people who don't know how to protect it. I'll tell you the full story when you're a little older, but for now, just trust me when I say the Uzumaki Clan were a dangerous folk. Their involvement in the First Shinobi World War-"

"Jiraiya…" Hiruzen interjected tersely.

The Sage frowned at the Sandaime. "We can trust him with this much, sensei." Turning back to Naruto he continued. "The Uzumaki Clan were more or less responsible for the First Shinobi World War. There were other reasons why of course, but they were a large factor in it. They were capable of unrivalled jutsu, and as if that wasn't enough, they knew everybody's dirty secrets. Ninjutsu, political scandals, and pretty much everything else."

"So they were wiped out?" Naruto swallowed thickly, sensing he had guessed correctly.

"That's right," Jiraiya confirmed with a nod. "They were one of the first go. When the war ended, as part of the treaty that stopped it, all evidence they ever existed had to be removed from history. As far as the world is concerned, they never existed."

Naruto clenched his fist subconsciously. It was a small miracle he hadn't lost his mind yet with all the revelations, but then again, he was capable of withstanding the effects of the Kage Bunshin training method, so perhaps he wasn't as susceptible as most to mind-straining news like this? "You're telling me my mother's clan was wiped from history itself?"

"I'm afraid so. And it wasn't easy, trust me, since the Uzumaki were practically the royal family of their lands and had friends and contacts in a lot of places. If you come across anyone who actually recognises the name, be wary. I wasn't exaggerating when I said they were feared. Now, you might be angry the old man here signed off on that treaty, but you should know he was a wet behind the ears Kage with next to no political experience under his belt. Even so, he fought hard enough for the Uzumaki's, to keep a trace of them alive. And you can see it right there on Kakashi's back."

Kakashi took the cue to stand and up and turn his back. Naruto eyed the back of the vest and was reminded how his own was different as it lacked the spiral on the back. "Mine doesn't have that spiral."

"That is because yours flak jacket model predated this one," Kakashi explained.

Naruto still didn't quite understand what they wanted him to see. "So the spiral is what…?"

"The spiral is the Uzumaki Clan's emblem," Hiruzen filled in helpfully. "I have some tomes in my possession that are rather taboo as they belonged to your clan. According to what I have read the spiral symbolises that what has no beginning and no end, what is tangible and intangible. It is how they believe the world's truth is most accurately described."

The young shinobi's frown deepened. "I don't understand. What 'truth'?"

"Perhaps it would best if you took a look at the books later. They are your rightful heirlooms after all," Hiruzen offered.

Naruto nodded slowly, grateful for the excuse of postponing more revelations. He felt overwhelmed and in need of a break, some time to let it all sink in his head, but decided against it. He had waited his whole life; there was no turning back to he. He couldn't stop, and he didn't want to either.

Naruto eyed the photo album and flicked through a few more pages, coming to stop on the picture of a man in his thirties with a rigid face, sharp blue eyes and long, spiky blond hair. Kushina had captioned the picture with: 'Namikaze Seijuro – I wish I could have gotten to know you better.'

"Is this my grandfather?" Naruto asked as he looked up from the photo album. He noticed Jiraiya glancing to Kakashi, before turning back to him.

"Yes it is, Naruto. Namikaze Seijuro was one of Konoha's most elite shinobi," Jiraiya looked in Kakashi direction once more. "And Hatake Sakumo's teammate."

"Hatake?" the jinchūriki looked confused for a moment and then quickly pieced two and two together. From what he could tell, this was another sensitive topic he was better off leaving for another day.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Namikaze Seijuro had been one of the teammates Hatake Sakumo had sacrificed the mission for. He would probably not have felt any better knowing Seijuro was amongst those that resented Sakumo for putting his comrades before the mission, nor would he feel any better that Sakumo's suicide threw Seijuro in a spiral of guilt that ultimately led to him taking on suicide missions one after the other until he found the embrace of death by the hands of Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki, who he had been ordered to assassinate in a last ditch effort to avoid a war.

Naruto decided to put down the photo album to avoid bringing up more sensitive topics, deciding to look at the other items that had been unsealed by Tsunade. One that caught his eye was a necklace with a transparent ocean blue spiral attached to it.

"That was your mother's gift to Minato when they started dating, I'm sure she would want you to give it someone special," Tsunade informed as he held it up for closer inspection.

Jiraiya shot her a strange look she decided to ignore. He hadn't known that bit of information himself.

Naruto eyed a peculiar kunai and picked it up after carefully placing the necklace down. "A kunai?" Upon closer inspect the trident-shaped kunai was rather rough and engraved with markings he couldn't make out.

"Not just any kunai, kid." The perverted sage actually looked a little excited to tell him. "That right there is the first ever Hiraishin kunai prototype."

As much as he had hated history classes in the academy, even Naruto had paid attention when they mentioned the Fourth's Flying Thunder God jutsu used to decimate Iwagakure's forces during the Third Shinobi World War. It was a shocking reminded of who the Yondaime actually was aside from his childhood hero and father.

The Yondaime was the greatest shinobi Konoha had _ever_ produced.

The act of surpassing him become considerably more daunting, though this wasn't at the forefront of his mind as Naruto examined the kunai and thought back to the night he visited Hiruzen and learned all about the Nidaime's space-time ninjutsu which was directly related to fūinjutsu.

"So what now?" Naruto asked after a while of aimlessly sorting through the various trinkets in front of him. Aside from framed pictures, some books, a shamisen Jiraiya told him Minato had played on occasion, there wasn't much that caught his eye. "I guess I know everything now? At least everything I wanted to know. So what now?"

The adults looked at one another before Jiraiya crossed his arms and looked him in the eye. "Akatsuki is coming for you. We don't know when but you need to be prepared."

Naruto clenched his fists tightly and nodded. "I didn't stand a chance against Itachi. Not even when Sasuke joined in. And the fox… using him didn't make any difference."

"I'm going to put you on indefinite leave for the time being," Tsunade informed him. "It's best if you don't leave the village for a while."

He nodded knowing that there'd be no point in arguing against her. It was for the best he didn't participate in missions for a while, not when his team were merely expendable in the eyes of those that would come for him. He had to get ready, and the more time he had to train, the better. "What should I do?"

"Kakashi and I still have a lot to teach you," Jiraiya answered.

The scarecrow nodded. "That's right. And this time, I'll do right by you, Naruto."

As they began discussing his training amongst themselves, with even Shizune and Tsunade offering their insight and help, Hiruzen remained oddly quiet as he eyed the young jinchūriki.

"What do you think, Jiichan?" Naruto asked, turning to the Sandaime.

Hiruzen kept the peculiar look in his eye as he then glanced at Jiraiya and Tsunade and back to his surrogate grandson. "I think you should come with me to the Sarutobi Clan compound in northern Hi no Kuni."

"Sensei." The Third's students turned to the retired Hokage, eyes suspiciously apprehensive. Jiraiya shook his head numerous times. "It's too soon. You can't be serious."

"Time is not a luxury we possess, Jiraiya," Hiruzen responded evenly. "Tsunade, as Hokage it is up to you. Any objections?"

"Of course!" Tsunade raised her voice at her teacher. "There is no way I can allow it. Naruto isn't ready, and you are in no shape to train him."

"Train me?" Naruto looked at each of them with a confused look. "What are you talking about? Jiichan is going to train me?"

Jiraiya firmly shook his head. "Not if I have a say in it. You're not ready."

Naruto grit his teeth, glaring at the Toad Sage. That was the second time he was told he wasn't ready in a short space of time. "What do you mean I'm not ready - what are you even talking about?" It came out sounding more petulant than he had intended but he went with it.

"Nothing you should worry yourself with," Jiraiya said sternly with a disapproving look at Hiruzen.

"Stop treating me like an idiot." Naruto's fists clenched as indignation rose in his chest. He hated being underestimated. Exactly what wasn't he ready for? Whatever it was, it got Jiraiya and Tsunade worked up. 'All the more reason to want to know,' Naruto reasoned.

Kakashi let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head. "I have to agree with Hokage-sama, Sandaime-sama."

Hiruzen took no offence, merely nodding his acknowledgment of the objection. "I do not blame you, Kakashi. Or any of you for that matter," he added with a look to the Sannin. "However, given the nature of the threat, we have to be prepared. Naruto-kun has to be prepared."

The aged shinobi looked directly at Naruto. "What do you think, Naruto-kun?"

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," Tsunade fell in with an angry tone. "As Hokage, I am his commander. He can't leave the village without my approval."

"I am well aware of that, Tsunade," Hiruzen said evenly. He held her gaze with a reserved, dignified air about him that frustrated the Hokage to no end, for she had grown up being faced with it many times. No man other than Hiruzen could make her feel like she was a hot-headed teenager. "Let's not fool ourselves here that time is not of the essence. We have no certain way of determining when they will be back again for Naruto-kun. Perhaps we have a few years, perhaps we have a few weeks. I would think that, as Hokage, you could see the prudence in allowing Naruto-kun to train with the Sarutobi Clan. It is the best option we have at this moment."

Naruto looked to Tsunade for her response feeling somewhat apprehensive himself. After a long moment she related, sighing as she nodded her conceded approval. "Fine."

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya glared at her. Clearly training with the Sarutobi Clan wasn't a picnic if you _Jiraiya _of all people was so opposed to it. "Think this through. Naruto isn't ready for this. If he goes now who knows what could happen?"

"Could you stop pretending I'm not here and tell what you're talking about?" Annoyed was putting it lightly how Naruto felt about being discussed about rather than included in their conversation. "Why can't I go train with the old man?"

Jiraiya turned to him placing a hand one of his shoulders. "Listen to me, Naruto. Training with the old man isn't as straightforward as it sounds. You're essentially going to submit yourself to torture, both physically and mentally. I've never managed to complete the training camp myself, neither has Tsunade or that rat bastard Orochimaru for that matter. I'm not trying to insult you but this isn't something you can do at your level."

Naruto swallowed hard. "What do you mean you never completely the training camp? You're the legendary Sannin."

"Jiraiya, have you still not figured out why you failed time and again?" Hiruzen had the brass balls to actually look and sound slightly amused. "Naruto-kun," he then said as he focused on the young shinobi. "I will not lie to you, this camp will be more arduous and difficult than anything you have ever done in your life. You will suffer, you will bleed and you sweat until your bones are heavy and your back is broken, but I promise you, if you stick to it, if you give this your all, you will succeed and the rewards will be worth it."

Jiraiya shook his head at the blond but he had already made his decision. "Alright, Jiichan. I'll do it, I'll come train with you at the Sarutobi Clan." He felt somewhat guilty about disregarding Jiraiya's wishes like that, given how the Sage had been his most effective teacher by far thus far, however he also knew that Hiruzen wouldn't have suggested it to him if it wasn't necessary.

"Suit yourself, kid."

"_We will come for you."_

Steeling his resolve, Naruto nodded firmly more so to himself than to anyone in particular. "When do we leave?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

I'm ashamed how long it took for me to produce this chapter. I'm a first year in law school now so it's kinda hectic but hey, so far I've gotten great gades. Still, I'm sorry for the wait. Expect the next (few I hope) chapters to follow shortly.

I've filled in a lot of gaps this chapter, more so than I'm usually comfortable with and perhaps Naruto's reaction to it all isn't so great, but whatever. I'm getting back to writing and I'll be working on chapter 18, the intermission between this arc and the next, very shortly. I'm kinda excited for the next arc mainly because it'll take me into the 20 chapters/2000 reviews bracket by my estimate, which I'll take as a real sign this story is going somewhere. Also, plot wise, it'll be quite different than anything else I've written so far for the story.

Regarding Naruto telling Rei he loves her – keep in mind this is the first time he's felt anything like it and been in a relationship. It's never pretty the first time around. For those who aren't sure where Rei's loyalties lie, this story element isn't cut and dry. See for yourself where it goes, but for now, do try to keep an open mind.

**Notes**

**(1)** In episode 246 of Shippūden, the flashbacks of Kushina, we see a house where Kushina lived in. It looked pretty nice, and I'm presuming Uzumaki Mito and other Senju lived in it.

**(2)** There's a TUD reference.

**(3)** Think Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. The Namikaze's are the Joestar's and die young. I thought some of you Jojo fans would like that.

**(4)** 'Okute' means 'late crops'; I went with that name because it goes along with Kakashi's name, which happens to mean scarecrow, and his perpetual tardiness. The Okute Clan hailed from Kaminari, which serves to explain Kakashi's lightning affinity and facemask.


	18. Chapter 18: One Year

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 07-04-13_

**_800k plus views! Not bad, not bad at all. Been a while, here's the new chapter. Again, edited it myself but you all know what that means. I've been looking into writing a short story no less than 3 and no longer than 10-12 chapters. I've got a lot of ideas of my own but if there is ever a time to offer me story suggestions, now's that time. I make no promises though._**

**_After you finish this chapter, go try out my other story: The Uzumaki Descendant. An update for it will be out shortly. Also, still looking for a reliable, long term beta willing to put up with me. Damn I'm lonely._**

**_Edited by A Fan1204._**

**ARC5: The Perils of Mount Kongōurin**

CH18: One Year

CH19: Bend or Break

CH20: Mount Kongōurin

CH21: The Climb

* * *

><p>CH18: One Year<p>

* * *

><p>(Konohagakure)<p>

It was nighttime in the village hidden amongst the leaves. Fukuda Shinya was not having a good day.

Ever since the Sand-Sound Invasion, he had been met with general distrust and contempt from his peers. He had been the jōnin supervisor to three Konoha deserters that turned out to be Oto-nin, amongst whom Yakushi Kabuto, a spy and trusted henchman of Orochimaru. How it had ever escaped him that all of his students were traitorous snakes, Shinya did not know nor did it seem many of his peers cared. As far as they were concerned, he was to blame for that error in judgment. As if it wasn't bad enough, his former teammate and friend Hayate had been killed weeks before the invasion commenced or that Anko, the female member of his team before Orochimaru took her under his wing, had confronted him and laid a beating on him so fierce for his mistakes he actually had to be kept overnight at the hospital.

Of course he didn't file an official complaint, that would only further alienate his peers, and if he had to be honest, on some level felt he had deserved it. He only took on the team because their previous sensei had died on a mission to the recently renamed Oto no Kuni. Only now did the mysterious death make sense; it was probably Kabuto who had killed their old jōnin supervisor to begin with.

Shinya had certainly seen better days. And if all of that wasn't enough, as the cherry on top of his crap sundae, today he had found out he had been rejected from the Cryptanalysis Team, a division he had set his eyes on since he was an academy student, and for what? _Suspect history that may possibly lead to compromise of sensitive information._

"Bastards." Shinya dragged himself down the road, his attire dishevelled and reeking of sake. There wasn't much else to do aside from drinking. Not that anyone would want to drink with him nowadays anyway. "Fuck 'em. Fuck all of 'em."

He was never one to swear. He only swore when he had a few drinks. Lately, he had more than just a few on the regular. "Because that's who I am, _Mister By the Fucking Book_! That's me, Fukuda Shinya! The biggest fuckin' idiot in this village!" His sudden outburst startled some of the few villagers still out. The only reason he had taken on the team was because it would look good on his record, and given their age he figured they'd make it to chūnin soon enough anyway. "How fuckin' wrong I was, huh?" In retrospect the fact they had failed the exams _seven times_ despite their experience should have set of a warning bell.

His inebriated state made the simple task of finding his keys appear more difficult than an S-ranked mission, not that he had ever been on one or would be trusted to be assigned one now. It took him a good few minutes to find them, during which he vomited on himself a little, and a few more to realise he had gotten off a floor early. When he finally found himself in front of his door, he let out a tired sigh and stumbled inside, casting his flak jacket in the living room, longing for his bed.

Of course navigating in the dark drunk was as difficult as finding his keys. When he finally found the light switch and flicked on the lights he nearly jumped out of his skin.

He was not alone.

Standing in his living room were several hooded men wearing porcelain ANBU masks. They stared at him silently, not saying a word, not moving a muscle like sentinels of death.

Shinya knew his fate the moment he laid eyes on them. And they knew just as well he did.

Resistance was futile.

Fukuda Shinya swallowed thickly, pushing his glasses up for the last time. "Well fuck."

-ooo-

(The Next Morning: Shinobi Memorial Grounds)

Mitarashi Anko was never one to cling to the past, certainly not if she could help it. Her past wasn't exactly pleasant to begin with. From what little she remembered and was told as a child, her parents had been shinobi like herself. They had served as ANBU operatives in different capacities; her mother had been a field operative, her father was an intelligence officer within the obscure department that answered only to the Hokage. At least it did back then, before the Third started slipping and the shinobi council began to chip away at the power he once monopolised.

Anko's mother was an acquaintance of Orochimaru. It was through him she learned the truth; it was probably why he chose her to be his apprentice. As much as she hated his guts, the snake charmer was good to her before he betrayed Konoha. He taught her a great many worthwhile things: how to think, how to fight and most importantly how to adapt in any given situation. If he hadn't turned traitor she would've been proud to say she had been his pupil, but that was a 'what if' scenario, and she didn't deal in such things.

"What are you thinking Mitarashi?" she said to herself with shake of her head as she walked down the small path. Looking ahead, she spotted Uzuki Yugao standing by the grave she had come to visit. "Yugao."

The ANBU commander was dressed in casual clothing, indicating she must've had the day off or was on break if operatives were even allowed those. "Anko."

They stared at each other for a while. Yugao's eyes drifted to the bouquet of flowers in her hand. "Are these for him?"Anko nodded once. "They're lovely."

"I can come back later?" the tokubetsu jōnin offered. If possible she would have liked to avoid seeing anyone at the memorial grounds on the rare occasions she went to pay her respects. Yugao was the last person she would've wanted to come across at this particular grave.

Perhaps the ANBU commander picked up on it. "No, stay. I was just going."

'Great, now I feel like a dick.' Anko nodded nonetheless and placed her flowers next to those of Yugao. A moment later she stood up to face the grave. "Kakashi lectured you on not going to the rock yet?"

Yugao almost smiled. "What do you mean?"

"Word has it he doesn't let anyone hang out by the memorial rock as much as him." Pretty much any shinobi in Konoha that had lost someone they cared about on a mission would've heard about Kakashi's odd custom.

"You think he's being selfish?"

"I think he doesn't like to see himself in others in that way."

Anko pressed her hands together with closed eyes to say a small prayer. Finishing her prayer a moment later, she continued to stare at the name by the grave for a moment. It was engraved in capital letters and read: GEKKŌ HAYATE.

She veered her eyes away from the gravestone. "How are you holding up?" In all likelihood any answer she'd get would be a lie but she asked anyway.

"He proposed to me."

Anko scoffed with a shake of her head. "Idiot." Shinobi unaffiliated with clans usually didn't get married, they didn't have the luxury of that formality; if they were lucky enough to find someone, they stuck around but that was pretty much it. Such was the trend of the olden days, long before her time, though it had gradually faded with the establishment of villages and marriage amongst shinobi had become more common. Anko knew she would never get to the point she would tie the knot. Not that anyone would want to have anything to do with her outside of a one-night stand or something open and casual given her past with the village's most notorious rogue ninja.

"Yes he was," Yugao agreed. Though neither her expression nor her voice betrayed it, Anko could tell she was hurting.

"You said yes, didn't you?"

Yugao nodded.

"Then you're an idiot too."

The ANBU operative smiled melancholy as she turned to leave. "I suppose I am."

Yugao left without another word and Anko remained by the grave, staring at the name silently as though with enough concentration she could resurrect the fallen swordsman. Memories of her childhood were at the forefront of her mind, she couldn't help but smile sadly at the thought of all the people she had lost over the years. 'You were the best of them, Hayate.' He had always been kind to her, always there when she needed him. He was the first of her peers to have welcomed her back with open arms when Orochimaru had cast her aside and nobody else wanted anything to do with her. If Anko were to ever come across the man who had killed Gekkō Hayate, she would undoubtedly avenge him, at the cost of her own life if need be.

She paid her respects in silence for another few minutes before turning to leave the memorial site. As she made her way to the exit of the ground she spotted something unusual.

A few rows down from her, Uzumaki Naruto was standing by two graves with an expression she could only describe as at a loss. 'What is he doing here?' Intent on finding out, the jōnin made her way to the blond, stopping a few feet away to give him some privacy.

…

'I don't know when I'll be back but I should be much stronger the next time I see you. I'm a bit scared of what Jiichan has in store for me. It has to be tough if Jiraiya couldn't handle it, but I'm determined to succeed. So watch over me, please… Mom, Dad.'

Naruto opened his eyes and lowered his hands. "Until next time." He turned away from the graves and found himself face to face with Anko. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to pay my respects to an old friend," she answered simply. "Whose graves were you visiting?"

Naruto frowned. Was he allowed to tell anyone? They hadn't forbid him from doing so the night before but he got the impression that went without saying. But they also told him to go visit their graves (not that he hadn't intended to anyway) so they must've expected some people to notice him and ask questions. Whether that meant he had license to tell people or not he wasn't too sure, nor did he feel like taking that risk.

He was so deep in though he hadn't quite noticed Anko stepping within his personal space. "Cat got your tongue, kid?"

She ruffled his hair much to his annoyance. Not only was it unruly enough already, it made him feel small and like a child so he brushed her hand away. "What do you care who I visit?"

"I don't," she said cheerfully without missing a beat. "I'm just curious who you went to visit." Anko got a step past him when she felt an ironclad grip on her wrist. "Oh, you don't want to do that kid-"

"Don't."

Anko didn't like how pleading he sounded but she wasn't one to pick a wound when she could help it, especially not with a fellow shinobi at a gravesite. "Alright, I was just kidding."

"Thank you."

There was something about the look in his eyes that Anko didn't like, something incredibly depressing. She'd never seen him anywhere near the shinobi gravesite, not that she was a frequent visitor, but she could tell by the dampened, dispirited look in his eyes alone that visiting the graves had confirmed the worst scenario possible.

"You look like you could use a drink and some company."

"I'm fourteen."

"Just some company then," she decided as she nodded her head towards the exit of the memorial grounds. "Come on."

-ooo-

(Tea Country)

Itachi and Kisame were resting in a cave close to the shores of Cha no Kuni in preparation for their mission. Akatsuki's blockade of Cha no Kuni had ceased months ago when Mizu no Kuni's Daimyō ordered his navy to get involved. Following Pein's instructions to do so, Kakuzu moved the majority of their ships and had a few ships remain two hundred miles from Tea Country's shores to continue their pirating operations. Some weeks ago the fleet's flagship, the Red Harbinger, a giant battleship fitted with the best armour and artillery money could buy, had been attacked by Konohagakure's Marine Division and sustained costly damages.

Naturally, the ever so frugal (or better yet, greedy) Kakuzu had ordered them to assassinate the head of a shipping company whom he had found out to be the one who hired Konoha's services. As the treasurer and face of Akatsuki, his authority was second only to Pein, and thus there they were, carrying out his orders.

"I've heard of our target in the past," Kisame said as he used a stick to draw lines in the dirt. "A few years back I was supposed to assassinate him for screwing some official in our government out of profits. I remember it well since I had to take that brat Mangetsu with me."

Itachi's eyes remained focused on the beautiful sky visible at the end of the cave. His mind was clearly elsewhere.

"The mission was scrapped at the last moment though. Apparently they managed to work it all out so we didn't have to go through with it. Still, I remember the layout of his mansion so you can follow my lead this time. Agreed?"

Kisame frowned a little at Itachi's lack of interest. Before he could say anything Itachi looked to him and then back to the entrance to the cave. "We have company, Kisame."

"So it seems." The shark-man stood up and reached for Samehada as he looked at the newcomers.

There were two of them. One was a man in Iwagakure garb; he had a strong and muscular build, prominent jaw lines; long spiky brown hair and green eyes. The other was relatively large with three distinct broad, blue marking on his face. He wore pinstriped underclothing and a dark blue robe with light-blue trimming over it. He wore his scratched Kirigakure headband as a bandana and small glasses along with a purple necklace.

"Uchiha Itachi and Hoshikage Kisame," said the first in calm, baritone voice. "Your tracking skills live up to their notoriety, Chūkichi-san."

"I require no validation from you, Iwa dog," the plump shinobi scowled at his companion. "You are only here because I was instructed not to kill you."

Kisame's shark-like teeth parted in a smile as he looked to the larger shinobi. "Chūkichi, is that you?"

Itachi remained seated on his rock in the shadows as Kisame got up and approached the two. "You know him, Kisame?"

"Chūkichi the Inescapable, it doesn't surprise me you managed to find us." Kisame acknowledged, clearly somewhat impressed. "You're one of the greatest sensor ninja in the world and your tracking skills are unrivalled amongst Kiri's Hunter Nin. I see you brought a friend."

"He is no friend of mine," the bespectacled Kiri-nin denied immediately. Clearly, he resented the implication of being on friendly terms with an Iwa-nin if his scowl was anything to go by. "This is-"

"Bakuton no Gari," the Iwa-nin interrupted in calm and confident voice as he approached Kisame, squaring off with little over a yard's distance between them. Despite his calm demeanour he appeared to be certain of his skill. "So this is the Kaijin of Kirigakure." He was so tall he was only a little shorter than Kisame, who was a fair bit taller than the average man.

"Why are you here?" Itachi asked calmly, Sharingan eyes glowing ominously in the darkness of the cave. "Given the animosity between your villages, I doubt this is an officially sanctioned mission."

Chūkichi's fat cheeks puffed as he glared into the shadows. "Come out, Uchiha Itachi. I have come for your head!"

Kisame blinked once and then smiled intimidatingly. "That's a joke in poor taste, Chūkichi. I won't forgive another, not even from a former ally."

"_Ally_?" Chūkichi repeated with disgust. "We were never allies, Kisame. And fret not, you will join your kin-slayer of a companion soon. The Iwa dog has come for you."

Kisame's smile faded and his blue, finned face settled into a blank expression as he turned to Gari. "I'm not in a mood to play, so don't expect any mercy."

"You were beaten by a elderly woman far past her prime, you have no business making such threats!" Chūkichi spat as he jumped backwards just as Gari made his move and aimed a fist to the ground. "Bakuton: Jiraiken!" An explosion of orange coloured energy erupted from the ground following the Landmine Fist connecting with the ground as it wrecked the earth and the cave altogether, scattering debris and vision obscuring dust.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

A short while later Naruto and Anko sat down by a bench near a dango stand close to the park. Anko ordered several platters of sticks and tea. For a while they ate in silence, neither saying much of anything. The jinchūriki didn't know what to think of it but at least she didn't try to take advantage of him like the last time he had been alone with her. 'She's actually nice,' he had to admit.

"So, what's eating you?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nothing." She gave him a questioning look. "Fine. I found out some stuff I'm not sure how to… process."

"That have anything to do with the people you were visiting?" she asked as she mauled another stick; it must have been her eighth or something. "Come on kid, you know I'm going to keep asking."

There was no one around but the elderly dango chef who had his back turned to him as he made another batch. It was safe to talk but he wasn't sure he even wanted to talk about it. "I don't know."

"Talk."

She wasn't asking, and inn a way, that made it easier. "I was visiting my parents."

Anko's eyes widened for a split second. "I see."

"Did you know them?"

She reached across the table and stole one of his sticks. "I knew _of _your mother. I doubt anyone around here my age hasn't heard of Uzumaki Kushina before."

"What about my father?"

The tokubetsu jōnin shrugged. "Nope. We all figured it was one of the other refugees that came around the time the second war ended."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "_We?_"

"Your mother had quite a reputation. It was obvious she was pregnant but we had no idea who had the balls to tie her down. Whoever it was, he must have been special. Apparently she was a lot less scary when she was pregnant."

For a long silent moment Naruto stared blankly at Anko as he mulled it over. Ultimately he came to a decision. This was _his_ secret now and he would share it with whomever he wished. "Namikaze Minato."

"Hmm?" Anko raised her tea to her lips. "The Fourth, what about him?"

"He's my father."

_Clunk!_

The teacup fell to the ground and cracked. Naruto struggled to his smile as the chef grunted out a rebuke and came by to pick up the shards of porcelain and wipe up the tea as Anko continued to stare at him in disbelief. As the old man hobbled off she leant across with a whisper. "_The Fourth _is your father?"

"Can't see the resemblance?"

She blinked several times and then helped herself to his cup of tea and another of his dango sticks. "Well damn, ain't that something?"

Naruto did a double take. "You got over that pretty quick."

The snake mistress shrugged and finished the beverage. "Are you going to get in trouble for telling me?"

"I don't care." It came out angry and confrontational but it was genuine. In that moment he decided he wasn't going to _appease _anyone on this. "It's my secret to share."

"Doesn't mean there won't be any consequences," she countered easily. "Still, my mouth is shut so don't you worry."

He gave her a nod in appreciation and helped himself to another stick. "I have to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"A favour."

"I don't sleep with minors."

Eye twitching, he shook his head. "That's not what I meant. And I already told you I have a girlfriend."

"So you're saying you wouldn't go for it if I'd let you?" she teased with a wink. "If you get me drunk enough I might."

'And I thought Shizune was bad.' He decided to keep that remark to himself given how he was the one asking for the favour here. "You were Orochimaru's student, right?"

Her expression turned serious. "That's right." Judging from the way she spoke, she clearly wasn't fond of talking on the subject, but she made no objection. Perhaps the fact he had shared a secret with her had bought her confidence.

"Did he give you a cursed seal too?"

"And what if he did?"

"You're a bit crazy but you seem to be in full control of yourself. I'd like you to teach Sasuke to do the same. Right now, he's slipping, or at least he's starting to. It's not a real problem yet but it's going to be soon if he doesn't get it together." As he explained the situation to her, Anko remained quiet and unreadable. He worried that every word he spoke could be the last he got to say to her before she blew him off.

"I already gave Kakashi advice a while back. The Fūja Hōin should do the trick. It all comes down to power of will. If your friend keeps disciplined and focused, the seal shouldn't bother him much."

"What if Sasuke doesn't have that discipline?" he asked.

Anko shrugged indifferently. "Not my problem."

"That's why it's called a favour isn't it?" Naruto countered quickly. "You go out of your way and help Sasuke and I'll owe you one."

"You'll owe me one?" she said with a hint of amusement. "Listen, kid. Controlling Orochimaru's juinjutsu isn't easy. Teaching your friend how to do it could take months, years even. Why would I do all that just so you'll owe me one?"

"I'm good for favours, Anko."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Damn right." His directness was a good thing. Anko didn't care for sweet talk or grovelling. In fact, that only made her more inclined to refuse.

'The brat must know me better than he lets on.'

He stood up out of his seat, marking the end of their conversation as he pulled out his wallet and laid several ryō bills on the table. "Thanks for this. I feel much better."

"When do you need my answer by?" she asked and turned in her seat as he walked away. "About your friend."

"I won't be in the village for a while so I'll find out whether you accepted my offer or not if I come back."

"And when's that?"

He didn't answer, leaving Anko with a confused frown. "Hold on, '_if_' you come back? The hell does that mean?"

-ooo-

(Senju Compound)

Jiraiya walked into the living room followed by Tsunade to find Hiruzen with a lit pipe filled with premium tobacco in his mouth and a book in his hand. The Sandaime looked up from his book expectantly.

They had barely exchanged looks when Hiruzen turned the next page. "I am not changing my mind about Naruto's training if that's why you're here, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya glared at his former sensei, both angry and frustrated as well as worried. "You're in no fit condition to be training anyone old man. You can hardly fight, in a few months you won't be able to even mould chakra anymore."

Hiruzen lowered the book exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Did you tell him of my condition?" The Professor looked at the both of them with a cold look in his eyes matching his tone. "_Jiraiya?_"

"No, but I will if you-"

Hiruzen rose out his seated position and clapped the book to a close. "You will not. My health is of no concern to you Jiraiya. Do not forget it was I that parented you for the majority of your life. Not the other way around."

"That may be so, but you're being reckless!" the hermit shouted right back the aged Kage. "Even if you were healthy enough to do this, Naruto isn't ready. You're going to kill him!"

"I will prepare him to the best of my ability before we come to that stage of the training. He will succeed Jiraiya, you of all people should know this better than anyone. You've seen it for yourself, the raw potential he has."

Tsunade kept a mindful eye on Jiraiya as he clenched his fists. There was no doubt in her mind that had Hiruzen been in a healthier state he would've struck their sensei. "In a few years he'll ace your training no problem, but now…"

"We don't have a few years Jiraiya," Hiruzen interrupted assertively, unblinking as the toad summoner continued to glare daggers at him. "I told you that we do not have the luxury of time. Naruto needs to become stronger and the training I have in mind will allow him to develop his skills quickly and efficiently. He won't be ready to take on shinobi of Itachi's calibre but what he will have learned by the end of it will allow him to evolve not just physically, but mentally and emotionally."

Jiraiya turned to the Godaime. "Revoke his permission to leave the village."

Caught off guard Tsunade had no immediate response. "Jiraiya, I-"

"Enough!" Hiruzen bellowed at them. "I am the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. Do you think you could stop me if I wanted to leave, Jiraiya, _truly_? You are a hundred years early to even begin to considering that." Years ago they would've flinched under his stern gaze. Now they simply avoided making eye contact, resenting one another for their stubbornness. "Naruto has agreed to this. Tsunade has already cleared us to leave, and I intend to make good on my promise to prepare him, Jiraiya. And if you still have your doubts then you are welcome to visit us a few months from now. Then you can see for yourself how much he has improved."

"Suit yourself, old man!" Jiraiya turned and stormed out of the living room, kicking a low table across the room on his way out.

Tsunade sighed and gave Hiruzen a chiding look. "You know he's just worried about you."

"And he's hiding it behind the pretext of being afraid for his godson, the _coward_." Hiruzen rarely spoke so harshly of another. The Godaime took it as a clear sign he too had his own doubts. "Thought I suspect he has genuine concerns for the both of us..."

"You don't have to do this." Tsunade knew it was futile but tried to reason with him one last time anyway.

The Sandaime looked at her and shook his head firmly. "I must, Tsunade. There may be other ways I can repent but this one will be the most effective, the most lasting…"

"If you go through with this, you'll cut your life expectancy down by at least two years, and that's being optimistic."

"I would have spent those years doing nothing but sitting in bed-"

"Surrounded by people that care for you. Don't you want to spend every last second you can with your friends and family?" Tsunade tried pleadingly. "See your grandson grow up for as long as you can?"

Hiruzen gave a tired sigh as he put began to refill his tobacco pipe. "I have made up my mind, Tsunade. Asuma will look after Konohamaru in my absence. There will be no more arguments."

Tsunade frowned deeply, unhappy with the decision but deciding not to fight him on it. "Have it your way," she conceded as she turned to leave the Sandaime alone to his book once more. "But know this, if this backfires and Naruto gets hurt, I will never forgive you."

Hiruzen watched her go in silence. He grumbled as he relit his pipe and chewed on it with a pensive look.

-ooo-

(Itachi & Kisame VS Chūkichi & Gari)

Chūkichi darted through the dust, locking onto Itachi's chakra signature as he chased him into the woods, taking to the branches as his target remained on the ground. Hands flashing through a string of seals, the sensor type finished on the rat sign. "Shimogakure no Jutsu!" A thick body of frost covered the area as he concealed his chakra signature.

Itachi's disembodied voice rang clear through the forest. "Your Silent Killing technique is a wasted effort."

'As if I'll respond to that,' Chūkichi thought with a snarl as he looked around. Shortly after the voice projection jutsu, Itachi had suppressed his chakra too. 'Does he really think he can match me in my Hidden Frost jutsu?"

A flock of crows cawed as they flew his away out of nowhere. Naturally, the former Kiri-nin let them fly past, noticing they were simply flying blind into the thick frost. 'Only a little more and his Sharingan should be completely useless. Without it, he is no threat to me, an easy kill.' His shades were covered by condensation but he didn't need his eyes in his frosty realm. 'He's better at masking his presence than I had expected.'

As he thought this a fluttering rain of crows feathers befell him. 'Tche! Genjutsu of this level, he must truly underestimate me.' Holding up a single hand seal, Chūkichi dispelled with the illusion. "Kai."

"Found you."

Sharingan eyes looked into his very soul.

…

Gari's eyes widened for a second as his fist struck Samehada and instead of erupting in an explosion, the chakra he had channelled in his fist disappeared. His eyes narrowed as he jumped back to retreat a small distance. "The most fearsome sword of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen, Samehada. It lives up to its name."

Kisame rested the sentient sword on his shoulder. The blade thrilled something in its indiscernible speech. "Samehada finds your chakra a tough meal." Given its name, it was practically a given the chakra absorbing sword would have some issues with feeding off of Bakuton chakra. "In case I kill you before I get the chance, I have to ask. Who sent you?"

Rather than answer, Gari punched the ground once more and sent a surge of explosive chakra to detonate beneath the shark-man's feet.

Kisame charged past the explosion in a show of deceptive speed and brought his sword back for a wide swing; Gari back-flipped over the attack acrobatically but felt a sudden pull on his chakra as he landed on his knee, nursing a horrendous looking wound on his shoulder where his skin had been shaved off. 'A moment's contact is all it takes to absorb chakra. I have to keep my distance.' Looking to his right, he found a sizeable rock and picked it up. "Bakuton: Shuryūdan!" Charging the rock with his chakra, Gari flung it at Kisame like a hand grenade.

Samehada let out a shrill shriek alarming its master as he made to swing the sword like a bat when the rock exploded like a grenade, pelting him with tiny chunks of rock. It was a nifty distraction that allowed Gari to regain his footing, raise a thick wall of earth and begin to punch the wall to hail a rain of exploding rock grenades, followed by a palm strike. "Bakuton: Bakuha!"

Explosive red chakra set off a series of explosions that combined in one enormous wave of kinetic energy that swarmed over Kisame, whose eyes narrowed dangerously as his instincts kicked in and he spat a massive wave of water from his mouth, converting a good amount of chakra to offset the Explosion Wave, albeit to no avail by and large as the powerful blast still swept him off his feet. He was quick to find his footing once more and threw Samehada diagonally across his back to intercept Gari's Landmine Fist. His beloved sword would quite literally have to suck it up and feed on the explosive chakra lest it blow a hole through his back.

Despite his large stature, Kisame ducked under the kicked aimed for his head with surprising flexibility and used the moment of his descent to use Samehada like a bat and strike Gari in the midriff and follow up with an equally crushing kick to the stomach in the second his foe remained suspended in the air. The Iwa-nin painfully bounded of the ground several times and came to a stop on one knee.

"You are quite skilled, Gari-san." Enemy or not, Kisame appreciated strength regardless of who possessed it, even if it was someone that had come for his head. "Unfortunately for you, my Samehada cuts down your Bakuton's effectiveness. Whoever sent you after us should have told you to go after Itachi instead. Chūkichi would be better suited to fight me, but I guess we now both know whoever sent you hadn't expected you two to return alive," the shark-man finished picking some of the remaining fragments dug into his thick skin.

Gari remained unperturbed and maintained his blank expression. "You continue to underestimate me even now." The Iwa jōnin pressed his palms together, activating another jutsu. The remaining fragments of rock stuck in Kisame's skin began to shine. "Katsu!"

Though far from lethal on their own, the combined force of the pebbles imbedded in his Kisame's body proved to be powerful enough to tear open his wounds in a shower of blood and send him stumbling back, though he amazingly managed to remain standing. Samehada thrilled apologetic, but it fell on deaf ears as Kisame charged forward with demonic rage.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

On his way home Naruto noticed he was being regarded with strange new looks from shinobi and villagers alike. He then realised that they must have heard of him not only fighting Sasuke but also Itachi in one day. Only a few weeks ago he would've been strutting around with his chest puffed at the sight of some modicum of respect in their eyes. If not him they at least respected his ability and that would have been worth celebrating. Now it didn't make him feel anything. He hadn't felt much of anything since he left the Senju Compound in the morning after having spent the night there.

'Maybe I'm in some kind of shock.'

That made sense. Forty-eight hours ago he hadn't know the unadulterated truth about his parentage. Now he knew it all or most of it anyway. He was the son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. His mother was some kind of _royalty _from Uzu no Kuni, a long since forgotten country. His father was the Yondaime Hokage, who according to Hiruzen and Jiraiya was the strongest shinobi Konoha had ever produced.

He also found out he had a grandfather too, Namikaze Seijurō, not that that matter though since he was dead too, long before he was even thought of. He would probably find out about more of his relatives once he went through his mother's photo album.

'Speaking of relatives…' _Tsunade_, she was actually family. He didn't know what his relation was to her exactly; it made his head hurt thinking about it. Apparently she was a cousin of sorts of his mother or whatever, he didn't really care. 'Might have to start calling her Tsunade-obasan.' He smiled mirthlessly at the thought. She probably wasn't even his aunt anyway. He didn't care much for anything at that moment.

He had to go home and _decompress_.

As he jogged up the final steps of his stairs he found Rei standing by his door. "Hey."

They looked at one another for a moment. Then, without a word, she promptly walked up to him and kissed him. Stunned, it took him a second to realise what was going on before he returned her affections.

"What was that for?" he asked as she broke the kiss.

He held her close to him, embracing her warmth and presence. "You looked like you needed it." She buried her face into his shoulder as he chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"You want to go inside?"

He nodded, reaching in his pocket for the key. A moment later they were in his living room. It was still cluttered with scrolls, books and equipment. "Ayame, I'm home!" There was no response; she was probably still working at the ramen stand. He smiled dimly at Rei. "It's not much, but it's home."

"I've been here before remember?" She walked into the kitchen area and began looking through his draws and cupboards. "Have you eaten?"

"No. I didn't feel like staying for breakfast." Rei found some packed vegetables and chicken in his fridge and checked the date. "Why not?"

"I'm not too sure," he answered truthfully as he sat by his dinner table and watched her prepare to cook for him. "Do you want to know what I found out?"

"When you're ready to tell me." Rei didn't look at him as she began to gather utensils and turned on his rice cooker. "That's the deal, right?"

"Rei." At the sound of his voice she turned to look at him. "I don't need any time to think about it. I'm ready if you are."

She nodded slowly. "OK…"

"My mother was Uzumaki Kushina. I don't expect you to have heard of her," he said as he reached in pocket and pulled out a Hiraishin kunai. It was the prototype model he had come across the evening before. "And this belonged to my father."

Rei's eyes widened immediately. "The Yondaime?"

He nodded. "The Yondaime."

"That's… surprising." It was clear from her expression alone she was shocked and taken off guard by the revelation. "Now that I think of it, you do resemble the Yondaime a lot. I never noticed until now."

He laughed a little. "It's weird. I grew up practically worshipping him, and now it turns out he's my dad, or at least he was."

"No, he still is." Rei nodded firmly as she took his hand in her own. "And I'm sure he must be proud of you."

"You think?" he asked. Despite what most people thought about him, he did have a humble side to him. "I haven't done anything worth being proud of if you compare-"

Rei pressed a delicate finger to his lips to silence him. "Not yet," she stated with all the confidence in the world. "You haven't surpassed his accomplishments yet, but one day you will."

He nodded dumbly as she leant in to kiss him on his lips. "Rei-chan, I'm going to leave the village for a while. To train with the Sarutobi Clan," he elaborated when she looked at him confused.

"Akatsuki," Rei said softly.

He nodded. "The old man is going to prepare me while he still can."

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Rei asked as she returned to her cooking. She purposefully had her back turned to him.

He shook his head. "I don't know when I'll be back, or if I'll be back at all. The training is supposed to be tough as hell."

"One year."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I'll wait for you for one year," Rei said as she turned to face him. "

For a moment he was surprised but he then realised what she tried to do. He stood up and took her into his arms, embracing her tightly and taking in her scent as her arms circled around his waist. "You got it."

-ooo-

(Tea Country)

Kisame was seated on a large grey boulder once more by the time Itachi returned, walking at a leisurely pace. "Took you long enough," the swordsman commented.

"Your former ally's mental defences were tougher to break than anticipated," the Sharingan-user replied. "What of the Iwa-nin?"

The shark-man lifted his blade and pointed it a small distance away. Itachi turned his head to find the dead body of Bakuton no Gari sprawled on the ground in a gory show of blood and intestines. His companion had clearly lost his temper judging from the Iwa-nin's quite literally shaven off body parts.

"What did you find out?" Kisame asked of his partner in crime.

Itachi didn't respond immediately, eyes turning to the forestry he had come from. "Come out," he said loudly, turning to the forest. "_Tobi._"

"So you noticed," a low voice said.

Kisame stood up from the boulder and tightened his grip on Samehada. "Tobi?"

"Quite right," said the orange mask wearing shinobi calmly as he appeared from behind the trees.

"What is the meaning of this?" Itachi's Sharingan eyes spiralled threateningly, though his composure remained as calm and collected as always. "Were you the one that sent these men after us?"

"Correct," the masked man stated. "Leader-sama wanted to send you two a message after your show of defiance at the last meeting."

"'Know your place or you will be replaced', is that it?" Kisame surmised. He wore his usual mirthless smile, bearing his shark teeth at the masked shinobi. "Message received."

"For your sakes, I hope so." Tobi looked at each of them for a moment, lingering on Itachi a little longer than he did on Kisame. He turned and wandered off into the forest. "Good luck with your mission."

-ooo-

(Night Time: Senju Compound)

Tsunade had decided to resume her duties as Hokage from the Senju Compound for the time being. The study that had once belonged to her grandfather was considerably more comfortable and private. Shizune had seen to it all pertinent paperwork were forwarded to the compound. Currently the Godaime was pouring over the budget approval for next year's medical ninja training system. There currently was a provisional budget system in place that had allowed two dozen or so genin and chūnin to sign up for training. If she remembered correctly, Shizune had spoken rather highly of Haruno Sakura, another one of Kakashi's students and apparently once the recipient of Naruto's affections.

It brought a small nostalgic smile to her. Her team had been no different. Jiraiya only had eyes for her, while she in turn had a silly crush on Orochimaru, though she got over it early into her teenage years. How foolish she had been back then. Presently at least, it looked like Naruto had gotten over his rosette teammate however and found someone else. Tsunade had yet to actually speak with her but had seen her briefly at the blonde's fourteenth birthday party some weeks ago.

The door opened and Jiraiya entered looking dishevelled and tired. Tsunade sighed with annoyance at the sight of him. The sage was slightly red in the face and she could tell he had been drinking before he came to see her by smell alone. "He's not going to change his mind and I'm not revoking his permission Jiraiya."

Jiraiya waved dismissively. "I know, I know. I just came to apologise to you."

"Apologise?" Tsunade raised a curious eyebrow. "What for?"

"For trying to turn you on the old man. You want Naruto to go, right?" He didn't wait for her to confirm or deny it, nor did he need to. He sat down across the large, wooden desk.

"The old man is right, Naruto needs to get stronger." She eyed him as he sunk into the chair.

Jiraiya gave a drowsy nod. "Yeah, I get it." It became clear he had been out drinking so he could admit to it. "Say, what are we doing anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"You _know_ what I mean."

He was right; she knew exactly what he meant. That didn't stop her from avoiding answering his question. "Does it matter?"

"It does to me," he said simply, almost childishly.

"Jiraiya…" Tsunade shook her head, though she smiled a little once he fell silent.

The sage had already fallen asleep before she could give him an answer.

-ooo-

(Naruto's Apartment)

It had been some time since Rei had left after spending the afternoon together. She had cooked for him and after a unexpectedly delicious meal helped him clean up.

Naruto sat across the table from Ayame in their small kitchen. Upon her return home from working at the ramen stand, he had sat down with her and told her most of what had transpired since his release from the hospital. He couldn't tell her everything, like the fact he was the last known member of an ancient clan that had been erased from the world's history, but what he did tell her she found shocking nonetheless. Unlike Anko, she had quite a lot more to say about his being the Yondaime's son. Though appreciative of her anger towards the general populace mistreatment of him, it made him rather aware of the fact he couldn't risk anyone finding out and would have to keep that fact about himself a secret for the time being.

"So now you know why I have to go," he finished after a long while of explaining why he had to go with as little details as possible. He observed her, trying to get a read on what she was thinking. All he could see now was the shock of it all settling. "I know you want to, but you can't come with me. This is something I have to do alone."

Ayame looked at the reflected light in her cup of tea with a downcast look. "I understand."

"Thank you." Naruto stood up to return to his room to finish packing for his trip. As he moved past Ayame, she reached out to grab his hand. He looked at her confused.

"I wish you had told me all of this sooner. I never realised how much pressure you lived under, and yet all this time you endured it all silently, alone." He could tell she was crying because she didn't look at him. He didn't know what else to do but squeeze her hand comfortingly before letting go.

"It's because I had people like you to care about that I could endure it, Ayame. I'd have gone crazy a long time ago if I didn't have you, Iruka-sensei and everyone else." He didn't know what else to add and thus left it there.

Returning to his room, he resumed gathering his things for his journey. How long would he be gone anyway? He didn't know, so would packing everything be prudent or just a waste of time and space? Now that he thought of it, he still had to stock up on some supplies before he left. He also had to see Gikan for a remedy to his problems with regard to his Propulsion Palm jutsu and the strain they put on his wrists when using it. He was too deep in thought to notice Ayame as she hugged him from behind, holding him tightly to convey in action what she couldn't in words.

-ooo-

(A Few Days Later)

Naruto was at the Senju compound the next day, packed and ready to go. He wore his usual chūnin attire with his white cloak to go over his flak jacket and his kodachi strapped horizontally across his back. He opted to have several storage scrolls visible on his body, attached to his midriff in a holster made out of climbing rope. It was actually Ayame's idea, one she used herself to keep important kitchenware on her during busy shifts. Practically everything he owned were sealed in the scrolls catalogued for usefulness and value.

He threw back his hood as he crossed the courtyard and into the house. He was a little early but they were waiting for him.

Hiruzen had forgone his Hokage getup and wore his shinobi attire. He looked fresh and awake, smiling at him as he entered. Tsunade looked uneasy and worried. Jiraiya looked like he had gotten over his objections. Shizune held Tonton in her arms and smiled at him.

"Are you prepared to leave?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto nodded. "Are you?" he asked as he pointed to Hiruzen's equipment, or rather, lack thereof. Aside from some pouches, the Sandaime had nothing on him. Figuring the old man must have sealed his equipment in scrolls, Naruto shrugged when he nodded.

Tsunade approached him and handed him the scroll from the other night. "You'll have little time to go relax, but when you do, you might want to take a look at the heirlooms. I've taken off the blood seal and included sensei's books for you to read."

He nodded his thanks as she proceeded to look over him from head to toe. "Where's Kakashi-sensei? I thought he'd be here."

"I'm right here," the jōnin said as he walked into the room on his crutches with his patented eye-smile.

"And me," Iruka added as he stepped into view.

Naruto was notably surprised. "Iruka-sensei?" At that moment he realised how long it had been since he last had a conversation with Iruka. He felt ashamed of that fact.

His old academy teacher regarded him with a kind, proud smile nonetheless. "I don't know all the details, but Sandaime-sama informed me you would be leaving the village for a while. I came to see you off."

"Thanks…" It was all he could think of saying.

"As we don't know when we'll be back, I thought you should be say your goodbyes before we leave," Hiruzen explained to him. Naruto was unnerved by the emotionless expression on his surrogate grandfather's face. It was as though he really was going to be away for a long time, possibly never coming back.

It scared him.

Tsunade stepped back a moment later and nodded. Though she tried to hide it, he could tell she was struggling not to show how worried she was about his leaving, more specifically the reason he had to go in the first place. It was odd to see someone so worried about him, but he also realised she had already lost two people she cared for on the way to becoming Hokage. It was why she had become so attached to him in such a short time. He reminded her of the loved ones she lost and though she didn't say it, she had come to care for him greatly, love him even perhaps, as a younger brother or more likely, as a son. Not knowing what else to do to cease her worrying, Naruto undid his headband and pressed it in her hand. "I'll come back for that soon enough so take good care of it, Tsunade-obasan. It means a lot to me," he added with a glance to Iruka, who nodded encouragingly.

A second later he found himself in Tsunade's tight hug. It felt warm and something he could only describe as _maternal._ It lasted no longer than a few seconds but it was enough to convey all that she couldn't say. He returned it for much shorter than he wanted to, but found himself hugged by Shizune not long after. "Take good care of her, sis."

"And you of Sandaime-sama." She kissed him on the cheek in a sisterly fashion (though it made him a little red in the face nonetheless) and let go of him after one more hug.

Jiraiya stared at him for a long moment; Naruto refused to break eye contact. He was determined to go. After a long, somewhat tense moment Jiraiya actually smiled with a hint of pride and produced another scroll. "I'll be coming by to check on you in a few months, but here's something for you to learn on your own until then."

Naruto nodded, swallowing hard as he took the scroll and Jiraiya ruffled his hair. "You'll do fine, kid. I have faith in you."

"We all do," Kakashi added in just as proudly.

It reminded the blond of his heart to heart with the jōnin some nights before. "You're all late a few years, but I'm glad to have you around. I don't know what having a family should feel like, but I think this is it." Judging from their expressions they were too touched to respond.

After a long moment of silence Hiruzen spoke up again and produced one last scroll, a particularly large scroll that looked similar to the toad scroll he had signed what now seemed like a lifetime ago. It was white with green markings.

"The Sarutobi compound I am taking you to is actually a stronghold used for training purposes. On foot it would take us quite some time to get there, however, this scroll contains the summoning contract to the peregrine falcons." The Sandaime opened the scroll and unfurled it from him to see what was in it. "As you can see from the faded names, all previous contract holders are no more."

Naruto frowned slightly. He already had a summoning contract with the toads. Was it possible he could sign another without offending them? He was about to voice this concern when Hiruzen disclosed another interesting fact. "Only six individuals before have ever signed this contract. The reason for this is because the falcons will only consider warriors with powerful wind chakra affinities worthy of signing their contract and calling upon them."

"How do you know if I have a strong enough affinity?" he asked. He wasn't trying to be humble, he simply hadn't considered his affinity to be particularly powerful.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and jerked his head towards the Copy Ninja. "Kakashi told us you've managed to modify a low ranked Fūton jutsu to let you fly for a short amount of time. You might not have noticed, but wind manipulation on that level isn't common without tools."

Pleasantly surprised, albeit still confused, Naruto asked another, bluntly worded question. "How is Gamabunta _not_ going to have my ass for signing another contract?"

"You'll be fine so long as you ask his permission first. Just be straight with him about it and don't mince any words," the sage advised him.

The jinchūriki gave an unsure nod and then looked to Hiruzen. "I guess it's time to go then?" There was no reason to further prolong his departure.

"That it is," the Professor agreed nodding. "We shall go to the forests behind the Hokage monument to summon Gamabunta and the falcon boss. Jiraiya, I assume you want to tag along for this?"

The Toad Sage nodded. "It's not likely Gamabunta will object but I should be there just in case the miserable old toad gets heated." Noticing the colour draining from his apprentice's face, he was quick to add: "Don't worry, if he's going to take his anger out on anyone it'll be me."

With no small amount of relief Naruto said his goodbyes once more and left with the Sandaime and Jiraiya moments later. Tsunade excused herself after he shook Kakashi's hand and exchanged some last words before departure with Iruka and Shizune.

-ooo-

A short while later they were in a clearing in the forest about a quarter of a mile behind the Hokage monument. Jiraiya and Hiruzen watched with mild intrigue as he extended his armguard and nicked his thumb on one of the curled blades to draw blood necessary to sign the summoning contract.

Hiruzen prepared the summoning contract on the ground and watched him sign his name and shared his bemused frown as a handmark appeared beneath his name. "It appears you need to channel some chakra into scroll."

"Where did you say you got this contract, Jiichan?" Come to think of it, it was rather odd, Naruto thought, that the retired Hokage had an unsigned summoning contract in his possession. Remembering his conversation with Jiraiya some months ago on the value of summoning contracts, he decided he wasn't going to channel his chakra into anything until he had an answer. Better safe and having slightly offended someone than sorry and quite possibly be falcon food, right?

"You could call it a spoil of war," Hiruzen answered vaguely. "I came into possession of this scroll after a particularly tough battle with an assassin a long time ago, about a year after my inauguration. It was a tough battle that I am certain not to forget for as long as I live. I had intended for this to be a gift to your father when he succeeded me but unfortunately I never had to chance to give it to him."

"So my dad had an affinity for wind too," Naruto realised aloud.

"And lightning," Jiraiya helpfully informed. "That's beside the point though. You should focus on what you're doing, kid."

Having no other reason to be suspicious, Naruto placed his hand on the scroll and decided to make a good first impression, drawing on is colossal reserves enough chakra for a thousand Kage Bunshin and thrusting it into the contract scroll.

The reaction was immediate.

A powerful surge ran wild through the air and a huge puff of smoke appeared along with a giant falcon roughly half the size of Gamabunta. The peregrine falcon's feathers were neatly kept, and going across its right eye it had a thick scar accentuated by its mighty yellow beak.

"What the-!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise as Jiraiya let go of him after having pulled him along in his jump. "I didn't even use any seals!"

**"I call upon the soul that summoned me." **The gigantic falcon called out to a single glance it read the newly signed name on the contract. **"Uzumaki Naruto… Uzumaki… Do you take me for a fool or are you truly the scion of that long forgotten clan of nobles? My name is Hayatsume the Falcon Lord and I shall have words with you, Uzumaki Naruto."**

Stepping forward due to a small push from Jiraiya, Naruto swallowed hard. "I am Uzumaki Naruto. I summoned you here."

Hayatsume's big, gold and brown eyes bore into him. **"You do not have the red mane associated with the House of Uzumaki, but I believe you are who you say you are, Uzumaki Naruto." **

"So, uhm, I take it I passed your test?" Naruto asked with a look at the summoning contract beneath its talon.

**"Quite spectacularly so. It has been a long time since my kind has allied itself with a human. Your chakra is exceptionally powerful and vast. I cannot see the end of your potential in the arms of the wind. As the clan Lord of Falcons it would be my honour to induct you as one of us."**

Refraining from looking overly pleased with himself, Naruto humbly bowed his head instead. "Thank you. Before you do anything though, I have to let you know I already have signed a summoning contract with the toads. Will that be a problem?"

**"Ordinarily, yes. However, the toads are a powerful tribe. We have had no issues with them in well over two centuries. I see no issue in allowing you the benefit of both our kin if the Toad Chieftain permits it,"** Hayatsume said much to his relief. **"Before you call upon him, I must ask you, Uzumaki Naruto, do you possess in you an entity your species has come to call bij****ū****?"**

Hiruzen and Jiraiya looked surprised by the question and appeared to be about to interject, but Naruto readily answered the falcon. "I am the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko. I didn't use any of its chakra to summon you but you can sense it can't you?"

**"My kin are excellent sensors, it is integral to our way of battle. My stance has not changed, I was merely curious. If you would call upon the Toad Chief…"**

Naruto nodded and bit cut his thumb once more before going through a string of hand seals as he walked a good distance away from the Falcon Lord and placed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Gamabunta appeared in another large burst of air. **"What is it now, brat?" **The Toad Chief swelled with irritation, apparently having once been summoned during a meal. Upon seeing Hayatsume the toad boss turned its humongous head to the young blond. **"You have explaining to do."**

Naruto swallowed thickly and proceeded to explain the situation to the toad chief, with a little aid from Hiruzen and Jiraiya to help him along the way. The Chieftain, it soon became apparent, was rather open to the idea commenting: **"Given how much trouble you seem to run in, I'd say you could every help you can get."**

"So you're fine with this?" he made sure to ask several times.

**"The falcons are a fine kin the toads respect, despite our history two centuries ago,"** Gamabunta looked at the Falcon Lord as he answered. **"So long as they do not ally with Serpent King and his kin I will permit you to sign a contract with them. This also goes for any other kin you come across, though I order you as your chieftain to summon myself and the Falcon Lord for permission."**

**"I agree with the Toad Chieftain," **Hayatsume cawed. **"Perhaps our houses can benefit of this in some way too, Chieftain. Though that is a conversation for another time."**

**"Very well, Lord of Falcons. I'll be going now, brat." **The toad disappeared a moment after a quick word with Jiraiya and Hiruzen.

**"And now it is time I too take my leave, Uzumaki-dono."**

"Just call me Naruto," the jinchūriki told the giant falcon. "And is it OK if I pick an familiar from your, er, flock?

Hayatsume cawed loudly. Whether it was out of amusement or annoyance, Naruto couldn't tell, but it was unnerving nonetheless. **"Falcons do not _flock. _We are lone predators belonging to one clan in name only. Above tradition we value power. Soon you will come to learn more about us, Naruto. I will leave now. If you require our services, call upon my son with about a quarter of the chakra you used for me. My eldest is quite capable in combat and will likely be willing to be your familiar. He is rather fast too if you need him to require his assistance in your journeys,"** the Falcon Lord instructed.

"Thanks, Hayatsume." The boss summon had made no comment on his lack of honorifics just yet, not that he had been conscious of it. "I think we'll be great friends."

**"Do not misunderstand our allegiance to be some kind of friendship, Uzumaki Naruto. As the lone holder of the falcon summoning contract, you are the one who must represent us. You are a part of our clan and therefore your strength is our strength. This is, after all, a contract of mutual benefit."**

He nodded feeling somewhat disappointed. "I understand."

**"However,"** Hayatsume showed something akin to a smile, **"If you prove to be the man I think you are, we may one day come to share such a bond."**

"I look forward to it."

Hayatsume cawed one last time before disappearing in another large cloud of smoke.

"That went surprisingly easy," Jiraiya commented as he stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You handled that better than expected."

"Indeed," Hiruzen added approvingly. "And now it is time for us to go. Your training awaits."

Jiraiya nodded. "Don't let me keep you. I'll come by in a few months to check up on your progress so don't you slack off."

"Got it," Naruto nodded. "While I'm gone, can I ask you a favour?"

"Shoot."

The jinchūriki gave it some thought how to pose the question. "Can you look into Orochimaru's juinjutsu for me?"

"I've tried kid, and it's pretty damn solid. But if it means that much to you, I'll go over it again. Tsunade should be a lot of help in deciphering it, though I can't make any promises." Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder with another nod. "You take care of the old man and make sure he doesn't pop a hip or something."

"I am right here Jiraiya," Hiruzen said dryly.

"I know," the sage returned flippantly.

Naruto nicked his thumb one last time and went through a string of hand seals before placing his hand on the ground as he mentally pictured a falcon. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Hayabusa!"

Not long after Naruto and Hiruzen were situated on the back of a large peregrine falcon by the name of Sezaru, Hayatsume's eldest. **"Where would you have me take you, Uzumaki-dono?" **It asked as they circled over the clearing. Sezaru was a mighty looking falcon that resembled his father in all but stature.

"Naruto's just fine," he answered as he waved to Jiraiya. His legs felt wobbly but he wasn't afraid. He had ridden Gamahiro in battle against Manda's son. That was terrifying. This was rather boring in comparison. "Sezaru, could you circle over the village for a while? I've got one last thing to do."

**"As you wish."**

Hiruzen eyed the young shinobi with curiosity. "One last thing?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered as held up his go-to hand seal in combat. "Let's see… about a dozen should do fine. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twelve clones appeared simultaneously and began to plummet to earth and activated the Propulsion Palm on their way down. "That way I can say bye to my friends," he explained to the Sandaime.

"Understandable, but I'm afraid we'll have to leave now, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded and sat down crosslegged on the falcon's back. "Sezaru, take us to the Sarutobi Compound."

**"The stronghold of the apes?" **the summon asked.

Naruto looked to Hiruzen for confirmation and then nodded. "Yeah, the stronghold of the apes."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Quite a lot of things are happening different than in canon, as is the entire point of fan fiction. What do you think of the peregrine falcons? I have several reasons for this but above all I dig the symmetry going on between Naruto and Sasuke in canon. Naruto's wind beats Sasuke's lightning but loses to Sasuke's fire. If only Kishimoto wasn't so lazy and had given Naruto a water nature type too. That'd be awesome. Anyway, this just made sense to me, even more so after playing Ulimate Ninja Storm 3, which further pushed the whole idea of a Fūjin and Raijin to the forefront of my mind (though this was planned long before that). It makes sense to me to have both of them having flying summons given their strongest elements have to do with the sky and I've alluded to summons having their own conflicts and what have you so that just goes hand in hand with it.

There will be a timeskip pretty soon. It'll be close to a year Naruto's been gone by the time he returns. He'll be a lot stronger but don't expect him taking Kakashi to school just yet. Before anyone mentions it in a review or PM, I purposefully changed Anko's genin team to have included Hayate and Kabuto's sensei – who I named Fukuda Shinya since he wasn't named in the anime.

I hope you enjoyed what little Naruto and Rei I wrote. I don't want to make romance the major theme of the story so I'll aim to keep it subtle and to a minimum. It'll still be there, it just won't be broadcasted all the time.

Yeah, that's all I've got to say for now so until next time.


	19. Chapter 19: Mount Kongōurin

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 06-05-2013_

**_Hi again. I've got to say I'm a little bummed out my 100 review streak ended with chapter 18 but that's OK. I only contemplated killing myself for a minute and ate a ton of junk food. Feel free to go back and review the previous chapter if you feel like. I am also still looking for a short story to write, my own ideas would be at least 20-30 chapters long so if you have anything between 3 and 10, maybe 12 chapters and you would like me to have a go at it, feel free to contact me._**

**_One last thing, I'd appreciate it if you gave The Uzumaki Descendant a read, but if not, I happened to stumble upon an amazing story entitled A Thousand Hands by MrWanted Outlaw John centred around Hashirama Senju and I've got to say it is pretty good despite the low amount of reviews it has gotten._**

**_Props go to A Fan1204 for editing this chapter._**

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><p>CH19: Mount Kongōurin<p>

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><p>-ooo-<p>

(Mount Myōboku)

The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku looked into the great spherical crystal before it, eyes squint and webbed hands moving in a rhythmic motion. Through squinted eyes the Great Toad Sage observed Uzumaki Naruto flying on the back of an unusually large falcon. **"The times are changing."**

**"What do you mean, Ojijisama?"** Gamabunta regarded the revered toad patiently. **"What do you see?"**

**"See for yourself, child. Look into the sphere and tell me what you see?" **

The Toad Chief did as told and beheld the crystal with trepidation. **"Uzumaki Naruto, Jiraiya's student and Minato's only child."**

**"Oh, but he is far more than that, Gamabunta…"**

**"He is also the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko,"** the chieftain added.

The Great Toad Sage gave a croaky, senile laugh. **"I believe this boy to be the one _he _told me would one day come and would change this world."**

**"Who is _he_, Ojijisama?"** Gamabunta asked. **"Do you mean to say Naruto is the Child of Prophecy? But I thought-"**

**"As did I, Gamabunta, but I have dreamt of this child. I have seen glimpses of what lies ahead of him and I cannot shake this odd feeling. I have not felt like this for centuries," **the Great Toad Sage shared cryptically.

**"The falcons must have known."** Gamabunta swelled with no small amount of anger. **"That is why they were so open to allowing him sign two contracts. It wasn't out of respect for us."**

**"Do not blame the falcons, Gamabunta," **the squinting toad whispered tiredly.** "Have you forgotten that we _all_ await this world's saviour? In the end, what does it matter what species we are, what clan we belong to? All life will be in perilous danger one day. We must seek to understand and help one another before it is too late." **

**"I understand, Ojijisama,"** Gamabunta said and looked at the crystal sphere once more. **"If he is truly the saviour you have prophesized, then the road ahead will be long and arduous."**

**"As it is for all heroes."**

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Moments after Naruto and Hiruzen left the skies of Konohagakure twelve Shadow Clones of the aforementioned blond plummeted to the earth, swerving past one another as they descended at rapid speeds.

"Alright, don't forget!" one Naruto-clone shouted to the others. "We each pick one of our friends. I've got Sasuke!"

"Who made you the boss?" one shouted back.

"Just pick someone and go!" the first clone ignored its copy. "Alright, Shuishin Shō!"

By means of the Propulsion Palm technique the clones began to descend ever faster as streams of air fired from their hands, allowing them far greater control to the point it appeared they could fly.

One clone stuck his tongue out to the rest. "Smell ya later! I'm clearing this before any of you do!"

"The hell you are!"

-ooo-

(Naruto and Hiruzen)

Travelling by falcon was far less comfortable than expected. While it was certainly faster than any other means he could think of, at the altitude they were flying, the wind roared constantly and the cold threatened to freeze them alive. Every now and then Hiruzen would exhale a small stream of fire as part of a chakra manipulation exercise to keep himself warm. Naruto had made numerous attempts to emulate the old Kage but with limited success. It was to be expected given his affinity lied with the wind, which was naturally weak against fire.

Rubbing his arms he watched as Hiruzen exhaled more fire. "Jiji, if you don't mind my asking, what's your affinity? I'm guessing it's fire."

Hiruzen showed an amused smile. "My affinity lies with fire, that is true, but as you may have already started to notice, some elements may come easier to you over time."

"You've been a shinobi for what, eighty years?"

The God of Shinobi's smile faltered. "I am sixty-nine years old, Naruto-kun," he corrected dryly.

"Right, and you've been a shinobi for almost as long and they don't call you the Professor for nothing, so would I be right in assuming you've mastered all the elements?" Naruto asked after doing the math both aloud and mentally to greater detail.

"You would indeed," Hiruzen nodded.

**"That is quite impressive, Hokage-dono," **Sazeru commented. The falcon has spoken very little since their departure. Naruto wasn't quite sure if he would work out as a familiar. Gamahiro was a toad of few words too, sure, but at least Naruto knew he could hold a conversation. **"The stronghold of the apes is not far. We will arrive in approximately one hour."**

Naruto stroked the bird's feathers, they were soft and comfortable even at their altitude. "Have you been there before, Sezaru?"

**"Only once," **he answered. **"Father took me on my coming of age flight. We briefly stopped to greet the great Monkey King, Enma the Righteous. He was very hospitable to my father and I." (1)**

"Gramps," he turned to Hiruzen as his last conversation with the Monkey King came to mind. "When Tsunade-obasan came to see you, Enma-chan told me he used to look over me when I was a newborn. Is that true?"

Hiruzen regarded him with a sad nostalgic smile. "It certainly is," he answered nodding. "I had a village to rebuild and old responsibilities to assume once more. Enma wasn't too fond of being tasked with guarding a newborn child but he took a liking to you."

It was stories like those that made Naruto feel odd; he felt small but also happy that somebody had been protecting him. "Why do they call him Enma the Righteous?" he decided to ask to distract himself from the odd feeling.

**"If I may answer that question, Hokage-dono?" **Sezaru asked of the Sandaime. Hiruzen simply nodded and went back to exhaling small bursts of fire to keep his body temperature up. **"Our world is no different from yours in many ways, Naruto-dono. While most kin live separate from one another, there are laws we must all abide by. In the interest of avoiding unnecessary conflict and bloodshed, a council of twelve judges known as the Twelve Deva, was put together by twelve representatives of the most influential species. It is the Twelve Deva's duty to rule justly and objectively, for they are the one universally recognised authority amongst all animal kingdoms and they hold the power to put to death anyone who violates the laws they have put in place." (2)**

To say the least, Naruto was absolutely shocked to learn such information. "I had no idea, Sezaru. I just assumed you kept to yourselves and just did whatever was natural."

**"Your species tends to assume a great many things, Naruto-dono. Contrary to what you may believe, we are not as uncivilised as our unintelligent counterparts. We too desire peace and order." **Quite clearly, Sezaru was offended by his ignorance but made no further comment on it. **"Of the Twelve Deva, Monkey King Enma is the leading and most respected judge. His influence is unrivalled in the animal kingdoms."**

Naruto refrained from sharing that he thought but all animals belonged to one kingdom to avoid further offending his summon. 'I should stop calling them that,' he decided then and there. "Sezaru, can I ask you another question?"

**"Of course," **the falcon permitted.

"My… godfather," it felt odd referring to Jiraiya as such. "He's the Toad Sage. Does he have any connection with the Twelve Deva?"

Sezaru cawed in laughter as though he had posed a foolish question. It certainly made him feel that way. **"Forgive me, it was not my intention to offend you,"** the bird apologised. **"To answer your question, yes. If your godfather is the Toad Sage, then he belongs to the Sage Order."**

"That sounds kind of bad ass," he thought aloud. Sezaru let out another amused caw in response. "He told me a little about his duties as a sage, but can you explain it to me?"

**"Very well," **his feathered companion agreed. **"The Sage Order was created by the Twelve Deva many centuries ago to act as an organisation that, somewhat like the Twelve Deva, united representatives of all species to act as agents of peace. You may think of them as a police force in a way."**

The sky was beginning to clear now as they left a congregation of clouds and soared across a vast stretch of blue. "They must be pretty strong if they're supposed to police you, huh?"

**"Certainly. Only a select few of your kind have the potential to become a sage and even fewer survive the training,"** Sezaru informed as he adjusted his wings. **"All sage candidates tend to be what your refer to as S-ranked if I am not mistaken."**

No surprise there. "Jiraiya said he once fought for the toads against the hawks. Are members of the Sage Order allowed to do that?" Naruto asked as he remembered the particular anecdote his godfather had shared with them on their mission to find Tsunade.

**"Ah, so it is Jiraiya the Gallant you referred to earlier."** It wasn't even surprising anymore that the perverted Sannin had a reputation even in the animal kingdoms. **"While it is not necessarily permitted given the purpose of the Sage Order, it is not at all uncommon for a sage to side with his allied kin in times of conflict."**

Ashamed as he was of his previous ignorance, Naruto was very interested in the politics of his familiar's world. The Sage Order had caught his attention, it certainly sounded like something he wanted to learn more about.

"I guess you had to pass up on being one, Jiichan?" he asked looking at the Professor. "It sounds like a lot of hard work but it must be worth it."

Hiruzen's expression turned grim. "Members of the Sage Order have to make a great many sacrifices, Naruto-kun. While they serve a noble purpose, they still hurt the people closest to them by becoming one."

He didn't realise it at first but it came to him quick enough once he put two and two together. "Jiichan… Konohamaru's dad is a sage, isn't he?"

"Kaen, my eldest," Hiruzen nodded with thinly veiled resentment. "He is the Ape Sage in my stead."

"Is that why he's never around? Konohamaru never mentions him." As much as he liked to think of the brat as a little brother and a student, they had rarely spoken of anything too personal. 'I'll have to fix that when I get back.'

"Konohamaru-kun was but an infant when his father left but it has scarred him nonetheless," Hiruzen told him. "His mother passed away due to complications during childbirth, she was a kind but frail woman. Of course, I never told him this, though I suspect he may already know and blames himself on some level."

If there was one thing Naruto had wished he didn't have in common with his discipline it was that they had both lost their mothers on the day of their birth. "He's a tough kid."

"He has you to thank for a role model, Naruto-kun. I hope you will continue to look after him after I am gone."

Naruto shot the Sandaime a resentful glare. "Don't talk like that Jiji, you're going live for a long time." Hiruzen smiled at that. "But, if for some reason you can't do it, you've got my word I'll look after him," he promised. "He can be a pain in the ass but he's like a younger brother to me."

"It puts me at ease to know you think of him that way, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said.

"Don't mention it, Jiji."

The remainder of their journey was uneventful and for the majority silent. Naruto tried using fire manipulation a few more times to no avail but fortunately the skies turned a little more favourable and warmer. He spoke a little more with Sezaru on the topic of the animal kingdoms, the Twelve Deva and the Sage Order but it soon became apparent his new familiar didn't know the answer to all his questions, instead suggesting he ask Hayatsume the next time he called upon him. Naruto had to admit Sezaru was growing on him. He was a little stiff and not one for idle conversation but he could respect his sense of duty to his clan.

Their journey appeared to have come to an end when a vast mountain range came into sight. It seemed to travel forever, going higher than even the clouds.

**"The stronghold of the apes," **Sezaru presented informatively. **"I can take you to the top of the summit if you wish, Uzumaki-dono."**

"Naruto is not here as a visitor," Hiruzen interjected much to the blonde's confusion. "We will start from the bottom and make our way up."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me, old man? I can't even see the mountaintop from his altitude. It'll take us days to climb the mountain range."

"If you manage to reach the foot of the highest mountain within a week I will be impressed," Hiruzen said with all the seriousness in the world. The old man held his gaze. "Surely you didn't expect this to be easy, did you?"

He shook his head dumbly and resigned himself to the old Kage's words. "Take us down, Sezaru."

**"Hold on tight, we will be descending rather quickly, Naruto-san." **Having never flown on a falcon before, Naruto didn't know what to expect as his new familiar tucked in his wings and veered down.

The next thing he knew they were freefalling in a nosedive of such speed Naruto would have surely fallen off if Hiruzen hadn't held on to him long enough for him to stick himself to the predatory bird. The wind blew in his face and rung painfully in his ears. He could tell Hiruzen was trying to tell him something but he could not hear any of it due to the screeching wind. Naruto's knees began to buckle and his stomach churned with nauseated imbalance; he didn't know how much longer he could take…

Fortunately, as soon as it had happened, Sezaru barrelled upwards and levelled with a might caw.

Not long after Naruto was on his hands and knees, emptying the contents of his stomach.

**"First time flyer?"** There was an amused tone in the falcon's voice.

Naruto merely nodded and continued to hurl whilst Hiruzen calmly climbed off of the summon's back seemingly unfazed. "Thank you, Sezaru-kun. You saved us quite a lot of time."

How the old man wasn't as nauseous as he was, he had no idea and he was too dizzy to ask. "Thanks for the ride," he managed between vomiting and holding up his thumb to convey the rest.

**"My pleasure,"** the falcon responded dryly. **"Call upon me whenever you need me, Naruto-san." **Sezaru took his leave a second later, disappearing with a sizeable burst of smoke.

Naruto emptied half of his water container in an effort to get rid of the taste of his own sick. Once he regained his bearings he looked around and noted they were in a valley of mountains that stretched further and higher than his eyes could see. The humidity was moist and hot; the weather was far too warm for wearing a cloak. In some places steam appeared to billow from the ground itself as though they were on top of a sealed volcano. 'Now that's a scary thought.'

"I'm afraid there will be no time for rest, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen bit his thumb and went through the required seals for a summoning jutsu. Placing his hand on the ground he called out: "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Enma appeared as soon as he was called upon and met them both with a welcoming smile. **"Hiruzen, my dear old friend. It is good to see you on your feet."**

"How are you, Enma?"Hiruzen asked pleasantly.

The blond had to admit, as odd as it was to see the old Kage embrace his summon, it was rather heart-warming. "The two of you are really chummy, huh?" Naruto said.

**"That is to be expected, Hiruzen and I have fought side by side for well over sixty years,"** Enma replied as he let go of the Sandaime and approached the young Uzumaki. "**We have been expecting you, Naruto-kun."**

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

"Tsunade-sama."

The Godaime looked up from her desk and regarded Shizune with a look of annoyance. "What is it now, Shizune?" They had moved back to the Hokage Tower soon after Naruto and Hiruzen left the village, and of course, a mountain of paperwork her assistant had forgotten about awaited her.

Her assistant had a smile on her face that hinted at good news. "The standardised medical ninjutsu test results are in."

Tsunade raised a curious eyebrow, she had actually forgot about the test. It made her feel rather old, to think she could have forgotten about something so important to her, the full implantation of a medical ninjutsu practitioners training program. "Well, don't beat around the bush."

"It was a huge success!" Shizune exclaimed excitedly. "Seventeen out of the first class of twenty passed the minimum grade. Twelve achieved the predicted grade average, four passed with above average scores and one candidate passed with a near perfect score."

The Godaime's eyes widened. "A near perfect score?" It was not her intention to make light of the others that had taken the test but she had not expected anyone to come anywhere near full marks on a test she had written herself. "Are you certain?"

Shizune nodded, her smile persisting as she read from her clipboard. "Haruno Sakura achieved full marks on the theoretical test and a ninety-three on the practical. She has excellent chakra control however her chakra reserves couldn't maintain the basic jutsu we taught them so she said had to take more than the allowed ration pills."

"It's impressive nonetheless," Tsunade leant back in her chair and rubbed her chin deep in thought. "With a proper diet and rigorous training she could expand her reserves…"

"I thought so too," Shizune agreed. "Do you wish to speak to her in person?"

"No," Tsunade said at first. "Hold on," she said a moment later. "Haruno Sakura is one of Kakashi's students correct?" Shizune nodded affirmative. "How long until Kakashi is fit for duty?"

"At least another two weeks, Tsunade-sama," Shizune answered after paging through her clipboard. "He is currently undergoing intensive rehabilitation."

The Slug Princess took a moment to consider the situation. Her being Hokage had come with a lot of responsibilities, some of which she had expected and many more she hadn't. While she did not regret donning the same hat her grandfather, granduncle and sensei had all donned before her, she lamented the fact she could not train the new generation of medical ninjutsu practitioners herself. Thankfully Shizune was there to administrate over the training program. Her assistant had long since become a skilled medic herself and was more than qualified to do so, yet Tsunade could not help but feel a little resentful, cheated out of the experience to see her ambition come to fruition by her own hand. Her first apprentice no longer needed her, but here there was a young kunoichi with talent and potential lacking the direction and guidance necessary to fully realise both. 'Jiraiya, it looks I'll be taking a page out of your book.'

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked expectantly.

"Yes," Tsunade smiled thinly. "Send Haruno Sakura over when you see her."

Perhaps her assistant caught on, judging by her knowing smile as she made a note on her notepad. "We will be announcing the results later today, I'm sure she'll be there."

"Good," Tsunade nodded at her. "Now, tell me about the other candidates, including those that failed. We should write and survey to collect data to improve the next class"

-ooo-

(Konohagakure Hospital)

_Beep! … Beep! … Beep!_

The machines attached to Uchiha Sasuke via all manner of tubes and wires beeped like a lulling metronome as they periodically displayed the unconscious teenager's heartbeats per minute, oxygen intake and other pertinent information.

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed as he stirred awake with a raspy groan. His throat was dry and sore. His entire body ached with pain and discomfort and felt like it weighed a ton. He tried to speak but he was far too tired to do and thus simply remained in his bed, staring at the white ceiling.

'I'm in the hospital?' He raised his head as far as he could to look and found the room to be void of other patients. He was alone in here. With great effort, and a biting pain his chest, he sat up in his bed and continued to blink in an effort to adjust his eyes to the light.

Sasuke remained sitting up in bed as he tried to remember how he had gotten there in the first place. 'The nightmares… Itachi…'

"About time you woke up."

The Uchiha's eyes refocused and widened slightly as he looked at Naruto standing by his window. The blond held up a greeting sign. "Yo."

They stared at one another in momentarily silence as Naruto approached his bedside.

"You're a clone," Sasuke deduced from the simple fact the blond was dressed for travel.

"Yep," the Naruto-clone confirmed as it poured him a cup of water. "The real me already left the village."

Sasuke downed the cup of water hungrily and waited for the clone to refill his cup. "Why?" he asked after he finished his second cup. His voice still hurt but his curiosity was greater still.

"I've got a lot to tell you, Sasuke, so listen closely," the clone said as it sat on the bed. "Your brother came after me because he's a member of Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?"

"They're an international crime syndicate involved in a lot of bad stuff," the clone explained briefly. "And they're going to be coming for me." His former teammate looked at him confused. "The real me will explain why when he gets back, but for now just listen."

"You're going to train aren't you?" The Uchiha sounded suspicious of him, almost as though he was accusing the blond of a crime. "That's why you left the village, to get stronger."

The Naruto-clone nodded in confirmation. "Before I left, I spoke to Mitarashi Anko."

"The proctor from the Chūnin Exams…" It was impossible for anyone to have run into Anko and not at least vaguely remember her.

"She used to be Orochimaru's apprentice and she has a lot of experience in controlling her juinjutsu." Sasuke glared daggers at the clone. "Just hear me out," it said hurriedly with its hands raised. "She's going to teach you how to control it. Kakashi-sensei is probably going to be out of commission for a while so I'd at least give it a try. You and I both know that seal has got you slipping, whether you want to admit to it or not."

"I don't need your help." Sasuke threw off the blankets and moved to get out of bed. As soon as he tried to walk he fell to his knees as his legs gave out under his weight, though the clone caught him. "Let go of me!"

Naruto's clone sighed with a strained expression. "Listen, you can either keep being a jack ass and slowly lose your mind _or_ for once in your life, you can admit you need help and accept what's offered to you."

Sasuke moved to punch the clone to disperse it but it effortlessly caught the Uchiha's wrist and gripped on to it tightly. "You'll never beat me if you keep this up."

The avenger opened his mouth but was cut off before he could say anything.

"The simple fact is that _I'm stronger than you_, Sasuke," the clone laid it out bluntly. "I'm not the type to sugar coat stuff, you know that, so let's get that straight. You've got a problem you need to fix. You'll never manage to catch up to me if you don't. Anko is going to come by soon and you're going to accept her offer to train you. Don't consider this me pitying you or doing you any favours. I'm looking out for my own interest here, and for that I need you to be able to fight with me, side by side." It was a lie, but one that spared Sasuke's pride. Despite the fact they tried to kill one another, despite the fact their dynamic had changed, on some level, he still regarded the Uchiha as a friend he cared about. Not that he would ever admit it.

"Why would I fight with you?" Sasuke demanded as he pushed the clone away.

Naruto held his gaze calmly as he answered. "Because Itachi's going to be coming for me and if you want your revenge you might as well stick around."

Sasuke breathed heavily holding his aching chest. "Explain."

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

Naruto looked around him in the valley as Enma spoke to him. The mountainous terrain seemed to stretch on and on into infinity. He frowned with light confusion. Aside from the sky, there was nothing else to be seen. Only the dry, cracked earth upon which they walked, which was suspiciously _hot _for some reason.

"You were expecting me, Enma-chan?" he asked the Monkey King.

Enma nodded and answered in his deep voice. **"Hiruzen sent word you would be coming here for training."**

"Yeah, though I was going to train with the Sarutobi clan," Naruto said as he looked around once more. "Jiji?" Hiruzen smiled knowingly as Enma provided the answer.

**"The Sarutobi clan is one of humans _and_ apes,"** Enma provided explanation. **"Generations upon generations ago my kin and that of Hiruzen formed an companionship to last for all eternity."**

Naruto's eyes widened at that fact. He would defy anyone that would fault him for his surprise though. "I never knew."

"I intend on teaching you a great deal more while we are here, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen pointed towards the sky, or more specifically, the high mountaintop that went up beyond the clouds. "Our journey is not yet finished. We will be making our way up to Kongōurinzan, the stronghold of apes." **(3)**

"I thought we were already where we needed to be," Naruto said confused.

Enma and Hiruzen shared a knowing smile. **"You are standing in the valley on the threshold to our stronghold, Naruto-kun," **Enma explained. **"No student here has ever been allowed entry into our stronghold without crossing these perilous lands first."**

Appreciating the remaining distance to Mount Kongōurin became all the more easier for Naruto now he realised he had to get there on foot. "So, I have to climb that entire mountain? That's going to take me days."

**"Weeks,"** Enma corrected confidently. **"Do not misunderstand, Naruto-kun. We do not allow anyone that climbs to the summit Kongōurinzan to train with us. My kin will be ready to challenge you on the way to test your character and ability, be it in direct combat or by interfering with your progress through trickery and sabotage."**

At that moment, Naruto noticed several new presences. Monkeys and men alike began to appear in the mountainous valley, maintaining their distance with curious looks in their eyes. He counted several dozen of them and felt a sudden pressure, a strong anticipating sensation he couldn't quite describe but knew he had felt before. From a cursory glance he noticed they all wore Konohagakure headbands. One rather large Sarutobi grinned in his direction along with his equally huge ape familiar, a gorilla at least three times his size in in height and width.

A moment later they disappeared from his sight, leaving Naruto utterly perplexed but relieved. 'Did they just size me up?'

"Naruto-kun," Hiruzen called his attention once again. "Your training has already begun. I will be waiting for you atop of Mt Kongōurin."

**"I advise you to be careful at all times," **Enma said gravely. It immediately prompted Naruto to appreciate the weight to every word the Monkey King spoke. **"These lands lie upon a dormant volcano. Its unique ecosystem has become home to a great many species, the vast majority of whom are carnivores."**

The jinchūriki gave a heavy nod. 'This is going to be tough as hell…'

"The Sarutobi clan members have been instructed to go at you with the intent to kill so do not respond with anything less than that, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen informed seriously.

Naruto swallowed nervously and nodded. "Alright, Jiichan, I got it… I think." He was rapidly losing his confidence but refused to show it. He never one to back down from a challenge and he wasn't planning on starting anytime soon. "I guess this is the part where we say 'until we meet again and good luck', huh?"

"That it is, Naruto-kun." The Sandaime smiled and turned to Enma. "Let us go, my old friend. We will await you at the top."

Naruto reached for his bag, took a deep breath and then exhaled. "I'll see you there in a week."

"A week?" Hiruzen asked.

"A week," the young man repeated with absoluteness. "I've got people waiting for me back home, Jiichan. I'll get through this and anything else you can throw at me. He began to advance towards Mount Kongōurin at a purposeful pace. "Just watch, old man. I'll complete my training in one year."

Hiruzen and Enma watched him go with matching pensive expressions. The Monkey King turned to Hiruzen with an amused smile. **"It took you a year and a half to complete your father's training regime. If Naruto-kun completes it before that, he'll have beaten your record."**

"He'll do it," the God of Shinobi said confidently. "You should return to the summit Enma. I'll be grateful if you spare me the journey and reverse-summon me to you."

**"Of course," **Enma nodded. The Monkey King disappeared in a burst of smoke.

A few moments later, Hiruzen disappeared in a burst of smoke of his own.

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

Sasaki Genji scowled as he walked along the dirt road along one of Sound Country's lush forests near the border. The swordsman wore a cloak with a hood and moved at a dutiful pace.

After a mile or so he turned to a beaten path that ran into the forest. Sasaki could hear the stream of water and his nose took in the scent of various plants.

It was nearly half an hour later when he arrived by an abandoned shrine hidden deep in the forest. Though he had not felt it, he knew he had crossed at least one barrier by the time the shine came into view.

The arachnid laid a hand on one the hilt of one of his swords. He sensed no one in the vicinity but knew that the person he had come to see was far too adept at hiding their presence for him to detect.

"I'm here," Sasaki called out impatiently. "Come on out already, master. I wasn't followed."

"One can never be too careful, my little spider," a deep voice rang condescendingly.

Sasaki scowled and released his blade. "If I was followed, you would have known by now wouldn't you? I know you've got at least one barrier set up."

"Three," the disembodied voice correct.

"See, I didn't even know that!" Sasaki continued to scowl. "_He _is going to notice I'm gone if I don't return within the hour."

From behind the shrine a low, seemingly stooping silhouette appeared. "Then it's best I hear you report now," said Akasuna no Sasori.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

"Tche, it sure is hot…" Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead as he continued to make his way to the base of Mount Kongōurin. His eyes had deceived him; it was a lot further away than he had thought it would be. He reached for his canteen of water and pressed it to his lips, emptying the remaining contents.

It had only been an hour since he had set off by his lonesome and he had yet to encounter any of the Sarutobi clan or the other creatures that supposedly lived here. A few times he had felt as though he was being watched but he knew if he tried to look they'd bolt or mask their presence so he didn't bother.

He held up a one-handed hand seal (he was getting better at those) and his cheeks swell. "Mizurappa." He refilled the contents of his canteen with water he created from converting chakra. 'At least I'll only have to keep a mind on food.' There was a definite bright side to being an Uzumaki and being a jinchūriki to boot. He had more chakra than he knew what to do with and thus where others would have to keep a mind on their reservoirs, he could just convert his when he needed some water to drink or a fire to keep warm.

Not that he would need to keep himself warm in this place. It was sweltering hot and humid, annoying so. Every now and then steam would burst from the cracks beneath him and douse him in hot vapour and obscure his sight.

"That's it," he decided once his shirt had begun to cling to his back, disgustingly moist with sweat and uncomfortably tight. He dropped his bag on the ground and took off his cloak and flak jacket.

Little did Naruto know that as he was changing several silhouettes of various sizes began to shift around outside of his view, patiently waiting for something…

After a few moments Naruto managed to take off his shirt, leaving his chest bare but for the sleeveless body suit that covered him down to his calves. If he wore a facemask he could probably pull off a young and blond Kakashi. It brought a smile to his face.

As he went to put away his discarded clothes, the cracked earth beneath him began to heat up. "What the-!"

Steam erupted around him and enveloped him in a deep fog. At the same time, the silhouettes pounced and dove into the fog.

Sensing danger, Naruto allowed his instincts to guide him and managed to avoid several direct hits. It was surprisingly easy to dodge his attackers – far too easy.

"Reppūshō!" he thrust his palm before him and blew away the steam with a continuous stream of air, uncovering several small monkeys taking his belongings and running.

**"Run for it!" **one of the rascal shouted.

As they disappeared in several directions, Naruto ran after the one that had his flak jacket. "Hey, that's my stuff! Stop!"

He didn't expect them to do so and thus wasn't surprised that they didn't. 'Shunshin no Jutsu!' Speeding up significantly momentarily, the managed to close in on one of them and grabbed his flak jacket. "I'm going to kick your little monkey asses!"

**"You'll have to catch us first!" **the cheeky little ape responded as he dashed away and met up with his friends on top of a mound.

A twisted rage took Naruto as they continued to provoke him by waving his belongings in the air. "You've done it now, you little brats!" he shouted holding up his go-to hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Six clones appeared and rushed alongside him.

The monkeys scattered with squeals of playful delight as a clone went after each one.

**"I've got his sword!"** one of them cheered.

One of the clones leaped at him. "Not for long you don't!" It missed but set off after the young ape. "C'mere!"

Naruto and his clones pursued the little rascals but found it became apparent that retrieving his belongings was easier said than done. He was certainly faster than the little thieves but whenever he came close they would move in unexpected ways, weaving through bursts of steam that left scalding marks on his skin.

"Fuck!" he swore as held his face. "What's in this stuff, poison?"

**"Don't you know anything, mister?" **one of the monkeys asked as it jumped on a clone's head and continued to move evasively. **"The steam can mix with some of the plant roots and give off really, really, really funny effects!"**

**"Yeah, didn't you know?"**

**"He's dumb!"**

**"Yeah!"**

**"Stupid!"**

A bulging vein on Naruto's forehead threatened to burst. "OK…" he breathed heavily in a dark voice. "I was going easy on you kids… but if you don't return my stuff to me now I'm going to make you pay big time!"

**"How scaaary!"**

Naruto formed several hand seals and finished on the tiger seal. "Doton: Doryū Taiga no Jutsu!" Converting his chakra, the blond spat a continuous stream of fast spreading mud.

His clones followed suit moments later, following his lead by using Earth Flow River jutsu of their own as they circled the monkeys.

**"Haha! They can't aim at all!"**

**"As if you'll catch us!"**

**"Idiot!"**

One of the monkeys had the audacity to grab a handful of mud and fling it at them. Naruto and his clones endured their antics for only a moment longer as the others joined in.

By the time the smartest of the youngster realised something was up, it was too late. **"You guys, wait a minute… Oh no, the mud!"** The mud had already hardened and it was too late to escape.

Naruto and his clones began to advance on the juvenile apes with matching demonic looks on their faces. "Time to teach you kids a lesson on how to treat visitors…"

**"Wait, you can't hurt us, we're just kids!" **

**"Ye- yeah!"**

**"No fair!"**

"I was told you were going to come at me with the intent to kill and that I should return in kind," Naruto replied as he cracked his fist ominously, his face threatening to split by his sadistic grin. "Now then, I hope for your sakes' you have no regrets…"

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Hiruzen and Enma were viewing the crystal ball before them with matching unnerved expressions as the blond teenager talked towards the monkey children.

"…"

**"…"**

**"Enma-sama, I think he's serious,"** one of the spectators commented.

The ape's human counter part shook his head and let out a laugh, patting his animal counterpart on the shoulder. "No way! He's just going to give those kids a scare…. Right, Hiruzen-sama?" he added nervously.

"…"

"Hi- Hiruzen-sama?"

Enma turned to his lifelong companion. **"He's not really going to hurt them is he?"**

"Naruto-kun can be particularly vindictive," Hiruzen disclosed dryly. "He won't do anything too outrageous to them," he quickly added. 'At least I don't think he will.'

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

Minutes later, Naruto cracked his hands once more. "Now then, I hope you kids learned your lesson. The next time I won't be as lenient."

The six child monkeys were all sporting matching bumps on their heads. **"Yes, Naruto-niisama," **they mumbled in unison.

"That's better," the jinchūriki said as he picked up his sword and tied it across his back.

**"That was pretty smart what you did with that earth jutsu, Naruto-niisama!" **the smartest of the bunch said. **"We totally fell for it."**

**"I didn't!"**

**"You fell for it first!"**

As they argued amongst themselves, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked to the distance. He was by no means a sensor type, but something didn't feel right. He couldn't put a finger on what it was but he felt as though there _something _out there waiting for them… something dangerous.

"You should head back home," he said firmly through their bickering. "Go on, quickly."

**"Why?" **the leader of the bunch demanded. He had an air of petulance and defiance about him that reminded him of Konohamaru.

**"Yeah, why do we have to go?"**

**"I don't want to!"**

**"You're not the boss of us!"**

They jumped at the sight of him reaching for the bandage-covered makeshift hilt of his kodachi. "Are you brats even supposed to be out here?"

**"Not really…" **the most timid of the bunch admitted.

**"Why did you tell him? He'll tattle on us!"**

"I won't tattle if you go home," Naruto promised, eyes still narrowed and the unsettling feeling in his gut persisting. "Now _go_."

**"Fine!"**

One by one the monkeys disappeared in tiny burst of smoke.

When they all disappeared, Naruto unsheathed his sword with one hand and proceeded to roll out one of the sealing to scrolls attached to his midriff to store his clothes and bag.

As soon as he finished, _a gigantic scorpion_ erupted from the earth. It was positively huge, almost as wide as Gamahiro and seven foot tall. Its pitch-black armour steamed and shined as _lava _dripped from it and the arachnid's stinger dripped black acidic fluid.

Naruto leapt back several dozen feet with a chakra-enhanced jumped as the scorpion's stinger dug into the earth where he had just been standing, ripping it apart.

"You are one ugly motherfucker," he shouted as the scorpion's pinchers widened and bared its face and teeth. **(4)**

**"As will you soon be, human!"**

"So you can talk." The jinchūriki readied his blade and gave the beast a good look over. From the looks of it, its armour was tough as hell and highly resistant against fire. 'They weren't shitting me when they said I had to be careful!'

**"Arrogant little fool!" **the scorpion spat venomously. **"I had a craving for ape meat but you will have to suffice."**

"Just for that, I'm going to find out how _you _taste once I'm done squishing you," Naruto shot back. Though that would be _a lot _easier said than done. The scorpion looked like it could handle itself, not that that he had any particular experience fighting giant beast capable of human tongue. 'I'm going to need numbers to beat this thing.' He momentarily placed his sword in his mouth and made a hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A dozen Naruto-clones appeared by his side, wielding his perfect copies of his razor sharp kodachi. 'Hayase, I'm buying you a drink when I get back,' he thought as his clones followed his lead and charged the sword with chakra.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Hiruzen raised a curious eyebrow. "Chakra Flow? I had no idea he was capable of that."

**"It appears Naruto-kun has some tricks up his sleeves," **Enma commented with a thoughtful look at the crystal ball before them. It was a fairly large sphere roughly a foot tall and wide.

By now many more of the Sarutobi clan, both the humans and the apes, had come to join the view.

**"Damn those scorpions!" **one of the monkeys shouted heatedly. **"How long are we going to have to put up with them, Enma-sama?"**

**"They clearly came here to devour some of our kin!"**

**"Indeed!"**

"Let's not get carried away," one of the human Sarutobi clansmen said. "No one was hurt so let us be grateful for that at least."

Hiruzen smiled at the human Sarutobi. "Well said," he said approvingly. "Enma will see to it these lands remain as peaceful. What I am more worried about are the children that went out on their own."

Another argument ensued regarding that particular topic.

"That's underhanded of you, uncle, distracting them like that," a large and brawny Sarutobi clansman remarked. "My old man used to say you could be manipulative."

"Oh shush, Kagerō-kun," the Professor waved dismissively.

Kagerō thumped his chest. "Kaigi and I can go down there to help the kid out if you want, uncle. He's not doing so hot."

"You will do no such thing, Daichi-kun," Hiruzen asserted calmly. "This is part of Naruto's test. If he is to train with us, he should be able to make it here by himself."

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

Black acid rained down upon Naruto, prompting him to place his hands on the ground and erect a wall of earth. He had neither the time nor the experience required to make a dome and thus curved it to increase its effectiveness.

The scorpion charged with fury; he reacted by jumping back but not before scattering several kunai and explosive makibishi behind the wall he was forced to abandon.

He held up a hand seal and set off the explosion. "Yume no Hara!" The explosive tags and makibishi did little else than stopping the scorpion in its charge.

"Tche!" It turned out his Field of Dreams was a one-time wonder. It had worked like a charm against Sasaki Genji but the beast before him clearly had far superior durability. 'It's almost not even fair. And I used up the last of those makibishi too…'

The scorpion was moving again, this time even angrier than before. The explosion had done little to hurt him, causing only mere discomfort that lasted no longer than a few seconds, but its pride was injured.

'I'll stop you dead in your tracks this time.' Naruto absentmindedly performed the required seals for his next jutsu. "Doton: Doryū Taiga no Jutsu!"

Taking care to up the moisture of his technique, he spat a river of slippery mud that forced the scorpion back. He couldn't keep up the jutsu for much longer as it was difficult enough to breathe in the humid valley without producing a stream of mud. He couldn't use the earth beneath his feet either since not only was there a dormant volcano below them, the earth was so dry and hard it would take him too long to convert even a tiny amount of it.

The black scorpion thrashed angrily against the inevitable stream as he caught his breath and quickly created another two Kage Bunshin to keep up his efforts while he tried to come up with a better plan. 'An hour in and I'm already fighting for my life. This place is something else.'

-ooo-

(Several Miles Outside of Konohagakure)

Climbing mountains was a feat no ordinary man could perform with ease, not without proper training and experience. To some the climb came natural, as though they were guided by an invisible force, instinct perhaps, that allowed them to find footings and ledges seemingly without trying or much effort. Unlike their civilian counterparts, shinobi were trained rigorously in physical activities from a young age and were expected to be more than capable of climbing mountains. In fact, they were capable of climbing without their hands through the means of chakra manipulation.

Of course, mountain combat was another manner of thinking. For that, the shinobi forces tended to have special departments with ninja trained specifically to carry out their missions in rough terrains – much like the Marine Division of Konoha, whom were all experts in combat at sea.

Konoha's foremost mountain experts were the Sarutobi clan. They always had been and most likely always would be. The Sarutobi clan was gifted with strong affinities to earth and fire and bodies that were capable of remarkable acrobatics like second nature.

Still, Hatake Kakashi had his doubts even they would find it so easy to climb a mountain with one arm tied behind their back and a no chakra usage handicap to make it all the more challenging.

When he was a youngster, Kakashi managed to climb the very same mountain with one arm under three hours. Now, nearing thirty, he wasn't as young as he once had been. He was near the peak of the average shinobi lifespan of the Warring States period. **(5)**

How strange would it have been to live in those days? A time before the Great Five Shinobi Villages, a time before the Uchiha-Senju meld that gave birth to Konohagakure. They must have been exciting times to live in, not to say the Copy Ninja wasn't living in exciting times now, but he would have relished in the opportunity to see the Shodai Hokage in combat, the God of Shinobi before the Sandaime.

'Focus Kakashi,' the son of Konoha's White Fang reminded himself as he felt his grip grow lax. 'It'll be impossible to find a better footing now, I have no choice.'

Taking a deep, calming breath the jōnin closed his eyes for a moment and focused. If Gai were around the exuberant taijutsu master would have surely chastised him for what he was about to do. 'Kaimon: Kai!'

Energy surged through his body as he released the Gate of Opening for a few seconds, dimly reminded of the last time he used it to cheat on the very same training around the time he taught the Chidori to his Uchiha student.

"Might as well use it while it's still open." Through opening the Gate of Opening, Kakashi's body overflowed with raw energy that easily allowed him to traverse the remaining climb with powerful dashes.

The scarecrow flew over the top of the mountain by a few feet and touched down gently.

"It's unlike you to take the easy route… Kakashi."

Kakashi found himself looking at a man in ANBU attire with a rooster mask from which long black hair flowed upwards. He was tall and fit with a lean, muscular build and carried a sword on his back.

"Shūichi-sensei."

"I abandoned that name a long time ago, Kakashi," the ANBU operative said as he sat on a nearby boulder. "You used to be quicker."

"I used to be younger," Kakashi replied as he caught the canteen flung his way and poured water of his head.

Rooster crossed his arms and stood up as Kakashi sat down and locked eyes.

_Flashback…_

(Kusa no Kuni)

A young Kakashi was sat on the ground hugging one knee to his chest as his eyes unfocused, _lost._

"You said you didn't see who killed these Kiri-nin?"

Kakashi shook his head, subconsciously clenching his fist. "No…" His voice broke, strained by his grief and effort to hold back his tears from flowing again.

The ANBU operative gave a sigh and turned to two medic-ninja standing by the body of a teenaged girl. "This is not the time or place for a field autopsy. Seal up the body, we will escort you back to camp."

"I had no choice…" Kakashi whispered quietly, pitifully. He pressed his head against his knee as he continued to mumble to himself: "I had no choice… I had no choice…"

"You served your country and village," the ANBU droned simply in between of signalling to the other members of his squad. "The enemy did not get their hands on the PC."

Kakashi's head snapped up, his one natural eye bulging with outrage. "_Precious cargo?_"

The ANBU captain turned away. "Let's get ready to move out. Where's my backup squad?"

The young Copy Nin scrambled to his feet intent on lodging a kunai in the back of the ANBU's skull. It was foolish, of course. Even a prodigious young jōnin as himself couldn't take on an ANBU captain. Nonetheless, the grief-stricken son of Konoha's White Fang gave it no thought and moved to attack.

Sensing his intent, the ANBU captain looked over his shoulder, not in the least intimidated but curious what the youth would do.

"Her name… her name is-!"

The young jōnin felt a hand on grip his shoulder. "Nohara Rin," said a newcomer. He was a tall ANBU operative with a Rooster mask. Behind him stood a fresh squad of ANBU. "Shinobi registration 010885 **(6)**, chūnin-ranked combat medic and member of Team 7 led by Namikaze Minato. And you must be Hatake Kakashi."

"Rooster, you're late."

Rooster nodded. "We ran into an enemy platoon setting up a shrapnel cannon. We eliminated them before rerouting here." He looked down to Kakashi. "I'll keep an eye on this one, Raven. Let's move out."

_…End Flashback_

"Sandaime-sama has taken Minato's son to Mount Kongōurin, a quite unexpected move on his part."

"Maybe." The Copy Nin watched the ANBU operative stand by the edge of the cliff and look out into the distance. "Why are you here, Rooster-sensei?"

Rooster undid the clasp of his mask and bared his face Kakashi. "You haven't called me that in a long time, Kakashi." Rooster had a smooth, pale skin unmarred by any scars or signs of ageing, and a strong jaw; his eyes were onyx pupil-less eyes. "Come back to ANBU."

"Come back?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he pulled at the hem of his facemask to air his face. Very few ANBU left the obscure organisation and even fewer ever returned. In fact, Kakashi had never actually heard of anyone leaving. To his knowledge, those who left were never trusted to re-join the ranks of the ANBU even if they wanted to. "Thank you for the offer, Rooster-sensei, but my days as an operative are long over. I have no intention of returning."

"Don't you think you've wasted enough of your talents looking after children?" Something flickered in Rooster's eyes. "I thought you wanted to _serve. _You swore to me on that night…"

Kakashi clenched his fist. "That isn't fair."

_Flashback…_

The tantō's smooth, silvery metal glinted under the moonlight. A teenaged Kakashi sat on folded knees facing his window, his headband folded and placed beside him. Could he do it he wondered. He would find out soon enough.

He trailed the tip of the short blade down this bare chest. His heartbeat pounded through his ribs, audibly so if he were to believe his inner ear.

All it would take would be to plunge the blade and slice from left to right. He would be reunited with Rin and Obito once more…

Hatake Sakumo's son lastly removed his facemask. "Obito… Rin… forgive me."

"Coward."

Shock stayed the masked teenager's hand as he found Rooster by his window. "You…"

Rooster wordlessly climbed through the window and closed the distance between them with a vicious fist to the youth's face with enough strength to throw him off his feet. "Tche! A shinobi committing a seppuku… you Hatake are odd men."

Kakashi held his bruised jaw in the rubble that used to be his dressed. "What are you doing here?" he demanded as the older man deftly caught the tantō.

"If you truly wish to repent for whatever sins you believe you have committed, Hatake Kakashi, then your life is not correct means of payment."

"Then what is?" Kakashi demanded loudly.

"Service," Rooster answered, his voice resounding calmly and loud in the youth's ears. "Devote your entire being to serving the country and village those you wish to repent to gave their lives for."

Kakashi watched him extend his hand to him.

"Join the ANBU, Hatake Kakashi. If you wish to die then let fate decide whether you die young or old or the way in which you leave this world. From this day onwards, you are no longer Hatake Kakashi. Your name is Dogma Six."

_…End Flashback_

That night, upon which Hatake Kakashi was driven to attempting to commit suicide by his grief and guilt, he joined the elite shinobi division that answered only to the Hokage at the age of seventeen, an age at which he has lost his family, his friends and his mentor. On that night he gained another mentor, Kohaku Shūichi **(7)**, the former teammate of Namikaze Minato and estranged student of Jiraiya. Kakashi would go on to be one of the youngest ANBU operatives in history and dedicated his adolescence in service of Konoha, taking on mission after mission.

For the following seven years he forgot his name and assumed the identity of Dogma Six at first and eventually Dog, as he became a seasoned operative worthy of an animal name by his second year. As time went past went he on to lead a squad of his own by the age of twenty. At first Kakashi welcomed the opportunity for death on each and every mission, he was green, wet behind the ears, eager to see whether he would live or death, whether he was _meant_ to live or die.

Death did not come for him. No, it only took the lives of those around him like it always had. It was as though it was some sick, cosmic joke.

"That's not fair," Kakashi said again in a quiet voice. "I gave my life to ANBU, I gave _everything_ in service."

Shūichi shook his head. "Not everything, Kakashi. You still have more to give, more to offer to your country and village."

Kakashi clenched his fist walked past the ANBU captain and began to make his descend. "I'm not interested. I'm going to climb this mountain again, I expect you to be gone when I make it back to the top."

Shū watched him descend with a neutral expression; not at all looking particularly regretful he failed to recruit Hatake Kakashi once again. "Very well." The tall shinobi fixed his mask. "Don't cheat this time."

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Naruto narrowly darted past the scorpion's stinger and gripped his kodachi in a charging lunge grip and pushed the butt of his bandage-wrapped guard as he sunk the tip of blade into the beast. The arachnid trashed and shook him off forcefully only to find the blond chūnin to disperse.

**"Another clone?" **

The original Naruto appeared several feet above the scorpion along with several clones and a fully charged Rasengan in his hand. The beast attempted a final stab with his stinger, which Naruto subverted with the help of his clones pulling him out of the way. As his descent on top of it came to an end he reared back his hand and slammed it into the scorpion's back. "Rasengan!"

The impact of the sphere of chakra flattened its leg and produced enough pressure to form a crater beneath it. 'I'm not done yet!' He held up his unconventional hand seal and created a dozen of Kage Bunshin before jumping off the scorpion's back and retreating to a safe distance.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!"

The clones threw themselves onto the arachnid's body as they began to glow bright seconds before erupting in a giant explosion that resulted in the crater deepening and growing wider several feet and a strong blast of wind that sent Naruto flying several feet.

By the time he found his footing dust and smoke continued to bellow from the crater. "That was one tough son of a bitch," the blond noted as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

As the smoke settled the scorpion managed one more death rattle before its body completely slackened and gave in. **"Filthy… human…"**

Naruto fell to his backside, immediately regretting it as the heat of the ground burned the palms of his hands uncomfortably but too tired to sit back up. 'It's not chakra exhaustion,' he deducted as he breathed heavily. 'The humidity here makes it hard to breathe let alone fight.' Forming the tiger seal he lied down on his back spouted a Mizurappa in the air, letting the water rain upon him in a refreshing, cool shower on his skin.

It was at that exact moment that, suddenly, more creatures began to appear. Thee giant scorpions bigger than the last tore through the earth surrounding him, stingers poised to take his life.

**"You will regret taking the life of one of our brethren, human!"**

Naruto scrambled to his feet and reached for his sword as his widened eyes flashed around. There was no way out, he was surrounded. "You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

So that was chapter two of arc 5, The Perils of Mount Kongōurin. A lot went on in this chapter so I'm anxious to find out what you guys think. I've been waiting a long time to get to this point of the story and admittedly I took my damn sweet time.

Anyhow, we found out a little more about Kakashi's past, specifically how he joined the ANBU and some hints at what he was going through in his adolescence having lost not only his father the original Team 7 as well. In future chapters we'll see more of Rooster, or rather Kohaku Shūichi, a member of Team Jiraiya. A lot of you have shown to be rather interested in finding out where Konohamaru's dad is since I bothered mentioning him a few times already before this chapter. All I'll say for now is that I haven't forgotten and he will be making his debut soon enough.

Naruto's going through a bit of a struggle of his own on his way to the top of Mount Kongōurin but hey, what's a good story without a few monsters and a training arc? I'll aim to keep this arc down to about four chapters, after which we'll be back in Konoha for a short while before moving on, so look forward to that.

Alright, that's all I've got to say. Please _**review**_ and let me know what you think!

**Notes**

**(1) & (2)** So I did a little research and found out that in Buddhism, Enma is one of the Twelve Deva, some fort of judge in the after line who decides whether a person is good or bad. Amongst the judges Enma is the most important. I took his idea and fit in my story in a unique way I haven't read before anywhere else. In this story Enma the Righteous and the other members of the Twelve Deva have a direct connection to the Sages. Let's see how I spin that from here, aye?

**(3) **Kongōurinzan roughly translates to "Adamantine Tropical Forest Mountain" – I tried to name it similarly to the toad's place.

**(4)** Find that movie reference, I dare you.

**(5)** The Warring States era is what we now know to be the time before the settlement of the current shinobi villages system.

**(6)** Yep, that's Rin's actual ninja registration code.

**(7)** Kohaku Shūichi is a member of the Kohaku clan featured in the Twelve Guardian Ninja filler arc of the anime.


	20. Chapter 20: Bend or Break

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 23-09-13_

**_One million hits sure is something else. Didn't think I'd make it this far. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Also, The Uzumaki Descendant is a thing, so go read that too!_**

**_Edited by A Fan1204_**

* * *

><p>CH20: Bend or Break<p>

* * *

><p>-ooo-<p>

(Forest of Death)

The last thing Sasuke remembered was the look of twisted delight on the purple-haired proctor's face right before she knocked him unconscious with a cheeky, "Good luck! And try not to die!"

When Sasuke came to his head still ached enough; he wore the same garments he had on in the hospital, a dark blue short-sleeved shirt and loose, grey sweatpants. 'That bitch.' Vowing to exact revenge on Anko, he picked himself of the ground and patted the dirt off his clothes.

He had no equipment; no map, no weapons and no food. His stomach grumbled as looked around and noted he was in a forest, a familiar one.

'The Forest of Death,' Sasuke surmised with a glare. 'Did she really think this would scare me?' He would've scoffed if anyone were around. He survived this place before, when he was much weaker and an S-ranked rogue shinobi after him, he could do it again, easily so.

Sasuke tried activating his Sharingan… only to realise he couldn't. Something was off. "What's happening?" He felt a pulsing sensation on his shoulder. Was it his Cursed Seal, could Kakashi have reinforced the Evil Sealing Method seal during his unconscious convalescence? 'No,' he quickly dismissed the thought. 'Kakashi wouldn't do something so reckless.'

The only reasonable explanation was that Anko had done something to him. From the way it _felt _she had either meddled with Kakashi's Fūja Hōin or added another seal of her own creation to completely prevent him from drawing chakra, including his own. "That devious bitch!"

A hissing noise prompted Sasuke's battle instincts to kick in; he dived out of the way just on time as a clout of snake soared past him and bounded off the dirt.

"That's not very nice!" a cheerful voice quipped.

"You!" Sasuke glared upwards at a tree.

Anko shot him a grin. "You took your time coming to. What's the matter, did ya notice you can't use your chakra, pretty boy?"

"What did you do?" Sasuke demanded.

"Tell you what," Anko replied, crossing her arms lazily. "If you can track me down in the next 24 hours, I'll take my seal off. If you fail to do that, then the seal goes off when I say it does."

Sasuke glared daggers at the tokubetsu jōnin. She was infuriating without trying, but he refused to play her game. "I'm leaving."

"Feel free to pussy out, broods. If you can make it out here of anyway," Anko shrugged carelessly. "Careful now!" she chimed right before she disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

"Bitch," Sasuke swore again. He never was one for swearing but she brought it out in him, even more than the blond she reminded him of. 'I hope he's having a worse time than I am.'

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

It had been approximately three hours since Naruto had set foot in the perilous valley beneath the mountain upon which the stronghold of the apes was located. It had not yet even been half a day and yet his life had been in considerable danger _twice. _Suffice to say Naruto had plenty on his mind when he dragged himself away from _mangled corpses of four giant scorpions_ under the harsh sun.

He was worse for wear and exhausted. His eyes were unfocused, his skin was slick with sweat and his clothes were torn in various places and singed where they weren't. He had yet to make much progress but he was already so very tired he could barely think. Fighting was much more difficult in the unreasonably hot climate of Kongōurin Valley. He was thirsty and lightheaded, and to make matters worse, the volcanic fumes he had inhaled earlier whilst chasing those mischievous little monkeys, had left him feeling dizzy and nauseous. He couldn't even focus his chakra properly to use jutsu anymore once the effects kicked in.

Still, he had to keep going if he wanted to keep his promise.

He had given himself _one week_ to reach the mountain summit. _One year_ to return to Konoha. One year to return to Rei_._ The thought of her alone was enough to return life to his eyes and motivated him to persevere through the heat. "What I wouldn't give for a cold bath now…"

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Hiruzen stroked his beard pensively, eyes glued to the crystal ball depicting the blonde's trek through the valley. "Interesting…" the Sarutobi clan head commented. "What do you think, nephew?"

"He's got plenty of talent but he's too raw." Sarutobi Kagerō crossed his arms and rubbed his chin in thought. "He's not as clueless as he looks, I'll give him that, and from what I can tell he has excellent battle instincts that will serve him well if he gains more experience. I'm surprised he's knows element ninjutsu of four nature types. You don't see that often these days. Does he know any raiton jutsu?"

Hiruzen continued to stroke his mane as he answered. "I have yet to observe him use any but if he followed my instructions he should know at least two."

"All five elements… Very few humans ever bother learning jutsu of the five basic nature types." Enma shook his head, though not in disapproval. "The Uzumaki clan's innate talent for understanding and developing jutsu is quite fearsome. He will undoubtedly be an extremely dangerous shinobi one day."

"Even fewer master all five," Kagerō added with a look to his uncle. "My old man must have envied you when you were kids, huh?"

"Your father was a man of greater virtue than I, my dear nephew," Hiruzen chided, a soft smile on his face. "He was of greater virtue than any shinobi had any business to be."

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Sakura kicked off her sandals as soon when she got home and groaned tiredly as she climbed the stairs to her room. She had just returned from taking her test and was both tired and frustrated. While she was confident she had aced the theoretical part, she knew she had fallen short on the practical side by failing to maintain her chakra reserves long enough. She had no other choice than to take two ration pills to replenish her chakra, one more than what was granted, at the cost of unspecified credit. No doubt that would affect her score badly. What made it worse was the fact she had spent the entire week leading up to the test perfecting her control to the tiniest fraction to make sure her meagre reserves could cope.

The rosette was in a bad mood to say the least and now all she desired was to take a shower and eat a nice, hot meal and maybe something sweet for desert to console herself. As she walked into her room she was already pulling down the zip to her dress, turning to her wardrobe and unaware she was not alone.

"I should say something before this gets awkward."

Sakura let out a scream as she covered herself upon finding Naruto sitting on her bed. "NARUTO!"

Knowing her first instinct would be to hurt him the blond held up his hands as she retreated behind the door and covered her modesty. He hadn't seen much aside from her undergarments but he doubted the rosette would care. "Hold on, I'm a clone!"

"You're dead is what you are!" Sakura shouted as she threw a punch.

"Hold on!" The Naruto-clone caught her fist and released it immediately, shaking its hand. Since when did Sakura pack a punch that hard? "I've got a message from the real me."

Momentarily surprised, Sakura lowered her hands. "A message?"

The clone nodded. "The boss went on a training trip. He won't be back for a year so he wanted you to hear it from him… sorta."

"A year?" Sakura blinked in surprise. Her mind shifted to her most recent conversation with Shikamaru regarding her former teammate. Her anger subsided almost immediately upon remembering what the Nara clan heir had shared with her. "Oh."

The clone frowned as her expression fell. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sakura said quietly as she sat on her chair by her desk. She ran a hand over the smooth mahogany, fondly remembering the days she would do her homework on shinobi history or studying the theories behind ninjutsu and genjutsu. Now all she used this desk for was studying medicine.

"Sakura." Naruto's lack of affectionate suffix when he said her name was something she had still not gotten fully used to. "What's wrong?"

"This isn't about me, Naruto and there's nothing wrong. Why don't you tell me your message?" The rosette had decided a while back she would heed Shikamaru's words. It wasn't her place to confront Naruto with the truth about his status as a jinchūriki. She would wait for him to trust her enough with that information. Only then would she breathe a word about it.

"Well, that was pretty much it. The real me won't be coming back until a year from now. He had to leave on short notice and couldn't really think of a way to tell you guys," the clone explained, its concerned frown persisting still.

Green eyes softened. "I understand."

"What do you understand?" the clone asked suspiciously, proving it (and the original) was more perceptive than she thought. "What's bothering you?"

'The fact you won't tell me why you had to go.' Of course, she had a good idea why, which was the reason she decided to change the subject. "How about the fact you just tried to peep on me while I was changing, you pervert?"

"I was not!" the clone denied immediately. "How was I supposed to know you'd stroll in half-naked? I mean, _who_ does that anyway?"

"How did you even get in here?" Sakura shot back flushed with embarrassment.

Naruto looked at her with a dry expression. "Have we not met before?"

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

"Ahaaa, it's so hot!" Naruto bemoaned tiredly. The valley stretched for miles beyond his vision and he still couldn't see the summit of Mount Kongōurin; it was simply too high and obscured by clouds. He briefly considered stripping down another layer but aside from his sleeveless bodysuit and baggy trousers he didn't have much on and thus dismissed the thought. 'I would _kill _for some shaved ice right about now.'

He allowed himself a minute to enjoy a drink of water from his flask. He was still too _inebriated _from inhaling the volcanic fumes mixed with the hallucination inducing herbs that grew in the valley soul and didn't trust himself with manipulating chakra. As he greedily gulped down he wondered how much stronger he would be by the time he got back. If he was struggling this much to actually _begin_ his training, he really couldn't tell how much better he would at the end. He just hoped it would be enough.

_"We will come for you."_

He lowered his flask and turned the cap tightly. "And I'll be waiting for you sons of bitches." If one thing was for sure, he wouldn't leave this place until he was strong enough to at least give whoever came for him more trouble than it was worth coming after him. Maybe he wouldn't be able to defeat Itachi the next time they met but he'd be damned if he didn't take him down with him at least.

Maintaining a steady pace was less tiring than _dragging_ himself forward, so Naruto pushed on with that in mind. The jinchūriki had every intention to succeed in making it to the top of the mountain within a week. He never went back on his word. Neither the heat nor the scorpions could stop him.

Several hours later, Naruto was still moving forward with single-minded determination, though his legs felt heavy and his throat dry as a scorching desert, he kept moving.

-ooo-

(Amegakure)

On the highest tower in the centre of Amegakure stood a tall man with spiky orange hair, in a black cloak with red clouds, and many piercings adorning his ears, nose and lips. His most noticeable features were his purple, ripple-patterned eyes that shined with soul-piercing intensity. The man stood lonesome on the tower as his eyes overlooked the great metropolis he had built. Tall, metallic skyscrapers stretched into infinity from the heart of Amegakure.

Perpetual rain showered the metropolis, even at night when the city was ablaze with countless lights that illuminated it brilliantly. Ame no Kuni was an oddity amongst most countries for it had no Daimyō or any form of civilian government. Many years ago it was a wealthy country rich in culture; the people were happy and generous and lived in humble abodes of stone and wood. The earth bore fruitful soil with each harvest due to its unique climate of tropical rain showers and long periods of sunlight. None went hungry for there was food to spare. The people of Ame believed the rain was a gift from the gods who favoured them above all others for their charity and humility, and they thanked the gods for their blessings by celebrating them many times a year with many grand festivals and emulating their charity unto others.

Unfortunately their happiness would not last.

The nation of Rain was a small country, landlocked with the three of the great five elemental nations: Earth, Wind and Fire. The nations of River, Grass and Stone also shared their borders. Though they had managed to stay out of their neighbouring countries' conflicts for many years, wars became an entirely different phenomenon with the inception of the shinobi system. The Warring States Period in which shinobi clans fought for the highest bidder had grieved them relatively little as they had always been able to hire shinobi of their own for protection or mustered enough crops for tributes in exchange for peace. This this was no longer an option with the new shinobi system in which shinobi swore fealty to country and Daimyō. No army could stand on even ground with a properly trained shinobi force. Greed, hatred and fear birthed one conflict after another, one war after another. Before long not even Ame could remain neutral, for if they paid peace tribute to one country, another would demand the same or declare them enemies otherwise.

Six countries surrounded the small nation of Rain. At times, six _warring countries. _Any tactician worth their salt would have considered Ame the perfect staging area for war. At first Ame's neighbours promised they were merely establishing trade routes. Then they promised they were merely building storage facilities. Then the promises stopped altogether. Ame had no Daimyō or standing army; they were not considered anyone's equal for those reasons and had thus ceased to be a true country in the eyes of their oppressors. It didn't matter how much money they could make and crops they could offer, they could not hire shinobi clans to protect them for they were now their aggressors. Neutrality was no longer an option. It was bend or break.

What was Ame to do but bend if not break? Nothing it seemed. The Rain nation was a small country with a population of less than a million, of which the majority found home in many of the smaller settlements in the countryside as farmers and craftsmen. They did not know how to fight so they did not fight, and so their lands were no longer their lands in the truest sense for it was now paved with roads and strongholds they did not build and guarded by people they could not call their own. What could they do but hold their tongues when foreign Daimyō stationed their troops on their lands? What else could they do but watch on as conflicts broke out and armies numbering tens of thousand men marched, killed and bled on Ame soil? They could pay the ultimate price for their defiance or simply do nothing, and so they did nothing for that was all they could do without bending or breaking. They simply did _nothing_.

Death and destruction swallowed Ame no Kuni. The rain continued as it always did, though now it held a different meaning. No longer was the rain a blessing from the gods. The country and its people wept and so did the gods that could no longer protect them.

For a brief time they found renewed hope when a hero was born at the time. A young, fierce and noble man ascended to the forefront as a champion of the people. Hanzō the Salamander they called him. He was the man who single-handedly united the country and rallied its people and their support. Hanzō was a force to be reckoned with, as strong as even the most elite shinobi of the great five and a master tactician. Ultimately Hanzō too lost his way as he became disillusioned with his dream to fight for the country had named him hero. What was one man to do against the might of many? He was but a man.

The salvation of Ame was not a task for a man.

It was a task for a god.

Only a god could vanquish its enemies and only a god could protect it.

There once was a boy named Yahiko who dreamt of becoming such a god. He died many years ago at the hands of none of that Hanzō the Salamander, who by then was nothing more than a paranoid bygone, a shade of his former self. The true gods were cruel to have Yahiko die by the hands of the man he had once idolised.

Yahiko died a young man barely into his prime. He died before he could acquire the salvation of Ame, before he could father Konan's children, before he could become a god.

Though tragedy struck not all was lost. Something was gained. The day Yahiko died was the same day _Pain _was born. _Pain _was the true god Yahiko aspired to be. And though he assumed the appearance of Yahiko's closest friend whose hands were still red with Yahiko's blood, he too was dead…

"Nagato," a soft voice called out.

Pain turned to face Konan. Like her origami, her beauty appeared as though it would never fade.

"He's here."

"No need for an introduction, Konan-san," another voice said. "After all, we're all close friends here, aren't we?" An orange, spiral-patterned mask glistened with wetness under a black hooded cloak adorned with red clouds.

"Tobi," Pain said stoically. "I see you've returned."

"I have indeed."

Konan looked at both men with hidden apprehension. "Let's take this inside."

"I won't be here for long,"

"You relayed the message?" Pain asked.

Tobi smiled thinly under his mask. "I have indeed."

"And?"

"Itachi won't be a problem," the masked man stated confidently. "Nor will Kisame. I have complete confidence their excursion to Konoha was a one time thing."

"Very well." Pain caught the look of displeasure from his angel. "You're displeased, Konan."

"They both challenged you directly," the blue-haired angel stated. "A mere warning is not enough."

Tobi eyed her with juvenile curiosity. "I never took you for one to hold a grudge, Konan-san."

She ignored him and held Pain's gaze.

"Make no mistake, Konan, they will both feel my wrath if they cross me again." The god of rain spoke with absolute finality. "Whatever the reason it must have been something of significance for Itachi to defy me."

"Don't trouble yourself any more than necessary," Tobi insisted lightly. "They know what will happen, what _must _happen, if they defy us again."

Pein considered his plan of action. "You are certain you have no knowledge as to why they would do such a reckless thing as infiltrate Konoha?"

"I never said I didn't know the reason." Tobi crossed his arms, his one visible eye on Konan's angered expression.

"What is the meaning of this?" Pain demanded in a elevated voice. "Speak, _Madara._"

"A man is entitled to his secrets, _Nagato-kun._"

Konan narrowed her eyes. "You dare-!"

"Enough," Pain silenced her before she could say any more. "Very well, _Tobi_… You may keep Itachi's secret to yourself, but know that I will _personally_ hold _you_ responsible in the event he betrays us."

"That is fine by me," Tobi agreed easily. "Now then, if you will excuse me, I have other business to attend to."

God and angel watched the masked man disappear in a swirl of colours that ripped through the fabric of time and space.

"I hate that man," Konan said.

Pain acknowledged her. "I know, but he is of use to us for now."

-ooo-

(Sunagakure Outskirts)

The deserts of Kaze no Kuni stretched farther than the eye could see. It went on and on seemingly perpetually, without an end in sight. At day it was like a sweltering oven, unbearably hot; during the night it was unforgivingly cold. No man could survive the desert alone, it was too big, too treacherous, and a habitat to giant monstrosities such giant scorpions, spiders and other predators so vicious they made the creatures of the Forest of Death look like tame pets.

No man could survive in these harsh conditions without support of comrades, no man but one. From a young age they called him Sabaku no Gaara. It was fitting in more ways that one. The desert was his realm and he was its god. Both blessed and cursed by the power of the Ichibi no Tanuki known as Shukaku, Gaara possessed the ability to manipulate sand as though extensions of himself. The sand obeyed him and the sand protected him. The sand also isolated him from the rest of the world.

Senju Hashirama had been exceptionally generous when he gifted Sunagakure with the Ichibi in the hopes of laying foundation to friendship and understanding. Naturally, the shinobi world spat upon such consideration. The official records to this day state rather than gifting the bijū, the Shodai Hokage was made to _surrender _it to the Shodai Kazekage. Few bothered, or perhaps dared, to question the legitimacy of the official records. Nationalism was key to maintaining a shinobi force, and those who presented themselves as dissidents were often silenced. _One way or another._ This practice was not exclusive to Suna of course; in fact most shinobi forces had military police factions in place to maintain the status quo.

Sabaku no Gaara cared little for the details, or at least there was a time he didn't. Though he resented none as much as his own father, the young jinchūriki harboured an intense hatred for the Shodai since he was youngster. It was part of the reason why he never thought of questioning the invasion of Konoha, despite the long-standing good relationship between both villages. He simply wanted to destroy the home of the man that indirectly destroyed his life.

The invasion failed much to everyone's shock. Sand and Sound had meticulously planned their invasion for months, preparing in absolute silence as they set the stage of their dubious plot in shadows. If successful the invasion would have been unprecedented, and it would have been the greatest victory in Sunagakure history, had it not been for Konoha's very own jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto, the only one to have ever defeated Gaara in battle. The entire invasion hinged on the successful unleashing of the Ichibi in the village like some kind of bomb, before the eyes of many foreign representatives and doubters. But when Gaara fell so did their chances of success.

It had been nearly a year since the failed invasion and a lot had changed since they returned in disgrace. Oto continued to do battle with anyone in their way, usurping villages wherever and whenever they could. They suffered even more severe losses than Suna had but were neither deterred nor intimidated. Orochimaru continued to laugh in the face of the Great Five with supreme confidence.

Suna was not so lucky. Unlike Oto, they _did_ answer to a Daimyō, and Konoha knew which door it had knock on. War had been narrowly avoided due to the Daimyō of Kaze no Kuni not only denying involvement but also by condemning the actions of Suna and promising justice to Hi no Kuni. Who could blame him when he truly had nothing to do with the invasion? There was plenty of cause for embarrassment to go around and the feudal lord suffered no small part seeing as his top shinobi had been assassinated and replaced by an imposter who orchestrated the invasion to begin with, under his nose and without his knowing. In fact, there were still many traitors within the village that had been involved, double agents and traitors that either took orders from Orochimaru or had their own agenda.

The Daimyō's ire had seen to it Suna's military budget was but a shade of its former self; morale was dangerously low and fewer missions were coming through every day. Kaze no Kuni was beginning to even outsource missions to smaller hidden villages. In their defence, who would want to hire the services of a shinobi village that been duped so easily, who would trust them with their secrets, to protect or take lives with discretion when they couldn't keep their own house in order?

Suna was on the verge of collapsing. In the past few months not only was their worthiness of being considered one of the Great Five had being called into question, dissidents began to pop up and became more vocal. There were even rumours that a civil war was on the horizon. A rebellious faction within the Hidden Sand was gaining traction more and more each day; disgruntled shinobi that felt betrayed by their Daimyō and the commanding officers of the shinobi force. The Yondaime Kazekage had been the first shinobi in many years to inspire as much confidence and faith. Two of the three previous Kazekage had been assassinated, but when the Yondaime proved himself capable of even defeating a bijū Suna once again had renewed hope. That hope was crushed when the death of the Yondaime was made public. With morale at an all time low and traitors in their midst, the Suna-nin were becoming more and more apprehensive, anxious and rebellious.

If balance were to be restored, the traitors would have to be dealt with, and it was for that reason the Ichibi jinchūriki was all the way out here, in a secluded oasis roughly two miles out in the outskirts of Sunagakure were he was isolated from the rest of the village as he waited.

Gaara's teal eyes were fixed on the plot of graves. Few people knew of the gravesite, it was a solemn place, a shrine to the late Kazekage's wife. Gaara had been there only twice before, both times with his father and siblings, when he was a young child. He cursed Baki as he read his father's name and almost smiled whimsically.

What would his father think of their current situation? Would he blame his son like everyone else in the village did? Gaara didn't have to be more involved with people to know that they blamed him, _cursed_ him for failing to commence the invasion properly. If he cared enough he might wonder what they were doing about the shinobi council; Orochimaru couldn't have gotten Suna involved without at least some backing in it. In all likelihood his father had unknowingly been in the company of traitors that had aligned with the serpent. There was no other reasonable explanation why his father, the only man known to be able to completely dominate and suppress the Ichibi through complete mastery of Magnet Release, would have fallen so easily in an ambush.

Gaara's eyes shifted to the grave next to his father belonging to his mother Karura.

_"Your mother didn't love you, Gaara. She cursed your existence and that of the village."_

Yashamaru's words still stung all these years later.

The Ichibi jinchūriki's eyes shifted to the set of three other graves beneath those of his parents. He didn't read the names on the tiny headstones; he wouldn't give them that.

From left to right: one month and three weeks, a boy with the same teal eyes as his own; two months and three days, a girl with their father's dark eyes; three months to the day, another boy, born with dark eyes and a tuft of light brown hair.

Gaara had seen the pictures and read the files. His father still smiled during those pregnancies, they both did. They both held hope, hope they lost when he was conceived

He'd seen only one picture of his parents when his mother was pregnant with him. There was no joy in their eyes or smiles on their faces, only blank expressions as though they had already given up on him, as if they wouldn't have fought for him to survive.

Sometimes, in his most private moments, Gaara wondered if there was perhaps a fraction of happiness in his parents when he was born. Had his mother rejoiced in his birth at all, even if only a little, or had she truly cursed him and the village for squeezing the last drops of life out of her?

Pale fists tightened.

Gaara felt a presence through the sand. He had been expecting company, though not of a friendly kind.

"Gaara?" a familiar voice said with bewilderment. Temari had grown even more beautiful since the Chūnin Exams.

The red-headed jinchūriki cast her a brief look over his shoulder. "You shouldn't be here."

Temari frowned somewhat confused not only because of the fact Gaara was here of all places but also because he was telling her to make herself scarce. "I'll leave you to it after I pay my respects. They were my family too you know."

She had grown bolder of the past few months as well. She had come prepared with flowers for both their parents and their unborn siblings. "What are you doing here anyway, you hate this place."

At first he said nothing, but when it became apparent she had no intention of leaving on his command he relented. "I'm expecting company."

Temari's eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed, the meaning of his words weren't missed on her. He briefly entertained the thought she would slap him. "Here?" she whispered incredulously.

"Here."

"_Why_ would you lead them here?"

Gaara declined to answer. Baki hadn't specifically instructed to come to this place; he didn't know why he did either. He had just felt like it. "I won't protect you if you stay."

Temari snorted derisively, something she would have never done mere months ago. "Don't underestimate your big sister. I can take care of myself."

Brother and sister remained standing in silence in front of their parents' grave. Temari laid flowers down by the graves of their unborn siblings. The sentiment irritated Gaara but he gave it no it voice.

Temari shifted. "Gaara."

"They're here," he acknowledged. Of course he knew, no one could hide from him in the desert for he was a god amongst the dunes.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Tsunade pored over the report in front of her, a furrow in her brows as she did the math in her head. She hadn't had much time to read clan reports since becoming Hokage due to the state the village was in after the invasion, and not being one to press political issues unless absolutely necessary, she had been content putting the reports on the backburner. If it hadn't been for Shizune reminding her the other day she would have likely forgotten all about them.

Clan reports were similar to reports submitted by division heads, written and submitted by clan heads to include the status of their clan members, how many were on active duty and so on. They were often long, tedious and rather passive aggressively laden with criticisms on a great many things. Tsunade just so happened to be reading one such a comment in the Hyūga clan's report. Lord Hiashi was of the opinion that the Home Garrison was doing a rather terrible job of keeping its shinobi in line and had numerous suggestions on how to better discipline shinobi on leave acting out.

To be fair, Tsunade had gotten several similar complaints and to make matters worse she had gotten disturbing news the day before a jōnin by the name of Fukuda Shinya had gone missing. The Godaime had her ANBU commander personally investigate the disappearance of Fukuda. She didn't know what to make of the disappearance but knew she couldn't afford to lose any more credibility. What would it say about the Hokage if one of her men was missing and she knew nothing about it? Of course, she wasn't just worried for her reputation; she was worried for the missing jōnin, as it was her job to be. As Hokage she was responsible for the shinobi force, it was her obligations to ensure that her men were ready and able to serve country and village. That also meant it was her business to account for all shinobi. It was particularly worrying that Fukuda hadn't been seen at his station for several days before his absence was reported. From what she understood he had been connected to several spies in the invasion, though Ibiki personally cleared him several weeks after.

"Heh." Tsunade laid the report down and rubbed her chin. An idea had just struck her, though before she could consider it the door to her office opened and Jiraiya strolled in at a leisurely pace.

"Hime."

-ooo-

(Sunagakure Outskirts)

They touched down on the sand, light as feathers, silent and observant. There were at least three dozen of them, they wore matching uniforms of black shinobi attire including facemask and carried wickedly curved scimitars and chains. They bore no insignia nor did they speak, but Gaara knew who they were.

They were of a clan of assassins that hailed from one of many remote islands near Kaminari no Kuni, a hidden village true to its name, unreachable to outsiders. Gaara knew his enemies were willing to pay top ryō to have him eliminated. This particular clan of assassins were far from cheap; they were perfectionists, highly disciplined in teamwork and with a hundred percent success rate. They weren't particularly powerful as individuals but they were considered unbeatable when working as a unit, something they were trained to do from birth.

Baki had told him they would show up when he was most vulnerable. His eyes shifted to Temari… Bastards.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

"You're leaving?"

Jiraiya stood leaning against the wall by the door. "That's right, Hime."

"I could use you," Tsunade said with a light frown. She sat seated behind her desk.

"I'm sure you could," the sage replied playfully.

"You know what I mean." The Godaime glared at him for a moment but then relented and released a sigh and reclined further into her chair. "Where are you going?"

"Do you remember that summit I told you about?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade recalled the hermit having informed her of such in a letter and in person weeks ago. "Sōgen."

"Sōgen and a whole lot of other dubious people," Jiraiya said with all seriousness. "Orochimaru might be there."

"He'd sooner send a representative, whether they know it or not," she added before he could correct her. "Orochimaru never liked crowds."

"He never liked much of anything."

"I'd offer you back up but I know you'd refuse."

"I would," Jiraiya admitted.

Tsunade frowned.

"You worried about me? I'm touched."

The Slug Princess ignored the immature remark. "When will you be back?"

"Three months maybe? I don't know," he admitted with a shrug. "I have other things to take care of, informants I need to speak to, and debts I've got to pay. You know, boring stuff."

"You're telling me," Tsunade replied with a gesture to the mountain of paper work to her right. "I should've never let that kid fool me into taking this job."

"You didn't stand a chance, did you, against him."

Tsunade gave a wry smile. "I suppose not."

The Sannin shared one last look. Jiraiya considered kissing her before he left but decided against it and instead peeled his privacy sealing tag from behind him. "I'll be seeing you, Tsunde-hime."

"Be safe, Jiraiya."

The Toad Sage flashed her a grin. "I will."

-ooo-

(Sunagakure Outskirts)

The assassins were quick and light. To attack them was like trying to strike a leaf in the wind. They were so nimble and precise there was no wasted movement as they manoeuvred silently, working in perfect synchronisation as they changed formations and dodged waves of sand and blasts of wind.

Gaara cut the wind with his hands and he tried to corner them; if he could dictate their mobility he would enjoy a relatively easy victory. They were in the desert after all. Unfortunately it wasn't going to be that easy as his enemies read him like an open book, it was as if they what he was going to do before he even did. They must have observed him and meticulously planned in advance. In an attempt to catch them off guard the jinchūriki raised his arms as the sand from his gourd protected his from multidirectional jets of water and bolts of lightning whilst he raised the desert beneath their feet, forcing them airborne. "Rendan: Suna Shigure!" His successive shots of Sand Drizzle managed to only catch three out thirty-six. They were so skilled in teamwork they pulled each other of harms way thus suffering as few casualties as possible. A projectile glinted in the sunlight.

"Kamaitachi!" Temari put up a good fight of her own, swinging her fan and creating a whirlwind of cutting gales. Blood trickled from a cut on her cheek where a kunai had flashed past her, a fresh addition to the numerous cuts and scratches she had already gotten despite Gaara's best efforts to protect her. Her aim was true enough to catch the offending shinobi in her in wind technique, cutting him to ribbons. He was dead in seconds.

It wouldn't be enough though, Gaara knew. If they both wanted to survive this battle, he had to be able to go all out, but with Temari so close that wasn't an option. There was a reasonable chance his sister could get hurt in his larger scale jutsu. That wasn't a risk he was willing to take so long as she was in the fight.

She'd surely be angry with him but Gaara decided to take his sister out of the fight. Sand began to pour from the gourd on his back and pool to the ground where it continued to grow in mass. "Sister."

Temari's eyes shifted around rapidly as she calculated distances and strategies as expected from an excellent long-range combatant. She hadn't heard him, or if she did, she pretended not to.

"Temari." Gaara rarely called her by name.

It was enough to call her attention. "What is it?"

The demon of the sand raised his hand towards her and clutched his fist. In an instant a thick cocoon encased his sister. Temari's outrage was faintly audible and they didn't particularly bode well for him, but she'd be out of harms this way Gaara rationalised as he lowered the cocoon in the oasis.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

Naruto had a new appreciation for the sheer size of the valley. It was much, _much_ bigger than he had imagined. 'How didn't I see it?' he asked himself as he made his way through the jungle.

That's right. _Jungle_.

How he hadn't seen the lush, tropical forestry from Sezaru's back when he flew in, he still didn't quite know, but he was partially relieved nonetheless. It sure as hell beat the volcanic planes he had suffered through.

After hours of trudging through the red waste under the scorching sun, Naruto had stumbled into a jungle. A _very_ large jungle. Dazed, thirsty and barely conscious (and still a little inebriated), his mind hadn't even properly registered the tropical forestry until he heard the sound of running water.

Fresh running water.

He nearly lost his mind when he stumbled upon the stream. He was too tired and too thirsty to even consider popping a contamination pill to check whether the water was drinkable and dipped his head in the water and drank to this heart's content.

Minutes later, his stomach filled with water, Naruto slumped to the ground and lay on his back. His lips were stilly crusty from dehydration but he felt considerably better and confident enough he could muster enough chakra control now his mind was clear and thus held up his go-to hand seal. He paused for a moment however.

Would using the Kage Bunshin to collect food and materials for shelter be cheating? He supposed not, the old man hadn't expressly told him not to, but he couldn't help but shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach that he ought to do it by himself. 'Maybe I'm overthinking it,' Naruto thought as he blinked through irritation of sweat in his eyes. 'I didn't have this feeling when I fought those scorpions… Then again my life was on the line then and now I'm being lazy.'

The blond released an exasperated sigh. 'Really, you're arguing with yourself now, Uzumaki?' Deciding to think on it for a few minutes, Naruto closed his eyes, using his backpack as a cushion.

Five minutes of rest and he'd know what to do.

Naruto fell into a deep slumber the moment his eyes shut.

-ooo-

(Sunagakure Outskirts)

Volumes of blood seeped through the sand surrounding the oasis hidden by the dunes; dark splotches, some mixed with viscera, enough to make even a seasoned shinobi's stomach churn.

Gaara's arms moved continuously and vigorously as he manipulated the sand with fluid precision, like a master conductor directing a sublime ballet of death and destruction.

His enemies attempted to slow him down with water jutsu, they had come prepared with efficient formations to overwhelm him in turn, moving in groups of half a dozen men. Were it anywhere else, they would have likely won, perhaps even if the red demon of sand tapped into the Ichibi's power.

High-pressure water jets with considerably cutting power battered his defences from all sides as Gaara continued to uphold his efforts. Half a dozen eyes floated above; Gaara bided his time, they hadn't noticed yet.

His non-Shukaku eye glanced to the oasis. Temari's laid at the bottom protected in an airtight cocoon to keep her from getting in the way and, if he had to be completely honest, for own safety. The sentiment would be for naught however if he didn't act quickly before her air supply ran out.

Gaara took a deep breath and whirled his arms in a circling motion, encasing himself a thick cocoon of compressed sand. The jinchūriki pressed his and middle finger to his right eye. Like always, for a brief second, a part of him marvelled at the irony of him using this technique, one he had copied from his father. "Daisan no Me."

He could only use one eye at a time with his Third Eye technique and only in his base form, and thus repressed his initial jinchūriki mode so he could quickly, and carefully, calibrate his enemies' positions, switching from eye to eye like a one-screen camera feed.

Three dozen men had been sent after him, ten he had already killed (including Temari's victim) and twenty-six remained. They continued to attack in four groups of six with water, lightning and fire jutsu – the three elements that stood the best chance to weaken his Ultimate Shield.

'Now.' Gaara pulled enough of Shukaku's chakra to strengthen his jutsu as he released his Daisan no Me jutsu. He had yet to try out this particular technique in combat, but now was as good a time as any.

Shukaku's Ultimate Defense spoke for itself. Gaara wanted to see what its Ultimate Offense was capable of.

Gaara knelt and placed both palms on the sand beneath his feet and concentrated. The blood of his fallen would-be assassins began to gather in a pool beneath him and stretched up with him, mixing with the sand as it formed into a spear with four wickedly curved blades. His chakra strengthened the iron in the blood with the compressed sand into an incredibly durable weapon.

The Spear of Shukaku.

The sand dome dissolved and Gaara stood tall, his eyes replaced by those of the Ichibi.

-ooo-

(Sunagakure Outskirt)

Kankurō was beside himself with worry. Perspiration ran down the side of his face; he rubbed his prickling eye with his sleeve, unknowingly ruining his kabuki-styled face paint. The puppeteer led the charge at the head of a thirty strong search party.

"Keep up!" the newly minted jōnin barked.

That damnable fool Baki had tried to keep it from him that Gaara was in danger. He had known of the snakes in the sand, of course he did, he was no fool after all, but how was he to know they would be bold enough to strike now, and in the _desert _no less? Naturally, Gaara could take care of himself, Kankurō had no doubt of that, but Temari… All colour had drained from Baki's face when he mentioned Temari went to pay her respects.

"Kankurō-sama!" one of the chūnin in his hosts closed in. His name was Kaizawa Masaki; he was their sensor shinobi, an invaluable asset in the desert. "I'm sensing a colossal spike of chakra in the direction we're heading."

Kankurō's eyes darkened. "Gaara."

"I thought so too," the sensor agreed. "Kankurō-sama, it's still rising. Perhaps we should wait for reinforcements in case the Ichibi escapes."

"Absolutely not. My sister is with him, and Gaara can't control himself when he uses the Ichibi's power!" His legs picked up even more; his breathing became harder soon enough. Puppeteers didn't have the greatest of stamina to begin with as stationary long-range combatants, and Kankurō was carrying a puppet on his back. "Let's go!"

They ran in tense silence for some time, undoubtedly anxious and apprehensive; there was a good chance Gaara could lose control if the assassins pushed him far enough. Kankurō was considerably more worried for his sister however, and pushed himself to run even faster to the point he had a considerable lead on his men. He suspected they weren't giving it their all, not that he could blame them. Gaara was his brother, he was somewhat used to it, but his men didn't know anything about him. They probably believed all the rumours, even the inane ones like the one that suggested Gaara was the one who slew the late Kazekage.

Kankurō's mind drifted to the time shortly after their return in disgrace. It was the first and only time his younger brother had ever confided in him.

_"Gaara, Baki has been looking for you all over. We should-"_

_"Brother… why do you think I lost against Uzumaki Naruto?"_

_"I… I don't know. Maybe he got lucky."_

Gaara had shook his head. _"What do bonds really mean?"_

_"Gaara?"_

_"Until now my bonds with others have only been ones of hatred and murder, but now… After he beat me, I've been _thinking_. Perhaps I can… _change_. Perhaps I can be more like him." _**(1)**

"We're here!" Kaizawa reported.

Kankurō's eyes widened in shock as they came upon the site of battle. His legs kept moving, unaware his search party had stopped. Their eyes were even wider his, and filled with fear.

There was so much _blood… _

Gaara stood in the middle of a revamped dune formation, his arms crossed and a spear of blood and sand levitating behind him. Around him several dozens spears protruded from the sand; roughly two-dozen men remained suspended, their bodies perforated as blood continued to drip from their carcasses.

Kankurō blinked hard as he finally willed his legs to stop. For a moment he thought Gaara's hair had grown longer, only to notice his younger brother was drenched in blood, likely from the assassin mounted on the spear floating above him. "Ga… Gaara…"

"Kankurō." Gaara's voice sounded hollow to him, almost alien. Shukaku's eyes pierced his soul; Kankurō involuntarily took a step backwards.

"Where's Temari?" he asked when managed to find his voice. "What happened to her?"

Gaara grimaced; he fell to his knees and clutched his head. "Gah!"

"Gaara!" Kankurō hesitated. Could he touch his brother safely or would the Shukaku intervene? Deciding not to risk it, he instead asked, "Are you OK?"

Gaara didn't answer him and instead raised his arm and made a gripping motion towards the oasis. Kankurō turned his head, eyes widening once more as a cocoon of sand emerged from the water and dissolved, unceremoniously dropping Temari's limp form to the ground in a free fall.

"Catch her!" the puppeteer barked loudly.

Before anyone could intervene Gaara commanded the desert sand to shoot up and secure their sister. For a moment Kankurō couldn't believe his eyes, did Gaara just overexert himself to save Temari?

"Gaara…"

Gaara breathed heavily, finding his feet and folding his arms, fatigue clear in his eyes.

'He fought the Ichibi for control,' Kankurō realised. 'I didn't know he could fight it. But why?' He turned and ran over to his sister. "Medic!" As he barked commands the realisation hit him. Gaara had fought the Ichibi not for himself, but to protect Temari… "Gaara-"

As Kankurō looked at his brother he saw a something, a glimpse, a shadow. "Gaara, behind you!" One of the assassin's had survived and hidden from sight under the sand. "Stop him!" he barked the order as he unleashed Karasu.

In the heat of the moment it didn't dawn on Kankurō that his sensor should've noticed, should've _sensed _the assassin. Why were they all so quiet?

Before Karasu could get within range of its target, the nameless shinobi was upon his brother, sword steadied for a killing blow. The sand erupted and encroached the assassins, but not before his blade struck and tore a gash in Gaara's face.

A sliver blood flowed through the wind.

"GAARA!"

Enraged, Gaara roared and gripped his fist tightly. His killing intent spiked to levels of the days prior to his defeat. Gaara wanted blood, and he got it copious amounts. "Sabaku Sōsō!"

Kankurō had witnessed Gaara's Sand Waterfall Prison many times before. He had seen Gaara kill countless times, out of duty, out of a desire for pleasure; he had even seen Gaara kill out of sheer _boredom._

Kankurō had never seen Gaara kill for revenge.

He didn't know how much more terrifying it was. Gaara's sand didn't cover the assassin's face, his facemask had been torn aside, and bore his agonising expression for the world the see. The fear in his eyes stood out even from a distance, it was as if he was looking at the devil himself.

In that moment, Kankurō thought he did too.

Blood and viscera exploded in a rain of stomach churning gore, _splattering _on the sand audibly.

Kankurō released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and sighed in relief for a moment; then, turning to shout at his subordinates, it hit him. Too little to late.

"Kaizawa-"

The sensor, Kaizawa, held a subdued Temari the ground, on her knees, which were turning red due to the hot sand. Temari was barely conscious; her fan was in the custody of another shinobi. Kaizawa pressed his kunai against her neck. "Thi- This is our chance! We can get rid of all three of you eyesores right here and now!"

Kankurō's blood ran cold. "Release her, Kaizawa. _Now._"

"That's not going to happen," Kaizawa said, somewhat nervous, but smiling nonetheless. "You three are just like the Yondaime, his blood runs through your veins, that stubborn, cursed blood that got him killed. His _weakness _is the reason why we failed to destroy Konoha! The world is laughing at us because of his stupidity!"

"What are you talking about?" the puppeteer shouted. "Let my sister go!"

"Don't worry, she's not going anywhere," Kaizawa said coldly. "None of you are." The sensor sneered as he caressed Temari's cheek. "Your father, _the fool_, refused to align with Orochimaru and look what happened to him, he got himself killed and now we're a laughing stock in the shinobi world. All the sacrifices we made were for nothing. _He_ failed us - _he_ was the one who turned his back on us! Suna has always had to prove itself, it's common knowledge _we're _the weakest amongst the Great Five. Suna commands no respect! The lowest in might, manpower, income… the _weakest bijū _– tell me," Kaizawa geared his ire to Gaara. "How did you lose to a jinchūriki who isn't even fully realised? _You _are just as responsible for the failed invasion! Tell me exactly _how _could you have lost to such a weak host?"

Kankurō wished his eyes could kill in that moment as he glared at Kaizawa with nothing but unadulterated hatred. He had no idea their failure could have done so much damage, but more than that, he couldn't forgive anyone for blaming them, for blaming his brother, when they had done the best they could, but before he could speak, Gaara did, in a voice so calm and composedhe could hardly believe it.

"He fought for a greater purpose," Gaara said as he locked eyes with Kaizawa. "I lost because _he_..." A ghost of a smile graced Gaara much to their collective shock, including his brother. "_Uzumaki Naruto_ fought for a greater purpose than I. That is the reason I lost."

Kaizawa's expression was one of disbelief and madness. "What are you saying?" he screamed. "Are you saying we lost because you couldn't find you _resolve_? _Is that it?_"

"I was resolved to kill Uzumaki Naruto, I've never wanted to kill anyone so badly in my life, not even my own father who condemned me to this existence…" Grains of sand trickled in Kaizawa's shade as Gaara spoke up, loud enough so they could all hear them. "It was not for a lack of resolve that I lost. It was for a lack of purpose. I fought only to prove my existence, I killed so I could feel alive, to confirm that I existed, that I… _mattered_."

No one had ever heard Gaara speak at such length because he never had, because no one was ever brave enough to listen. They feared Gaara because his violence knew no limits, they feared him because was unbeatable. Now that Gaara had tasted bitter defeat, they no longer feared him as much, for he was not the invincible demon they believed him to be, not anymore. More importantly, he seemingly cared enough for his siblings that they could have him at their mercy with one of them as their hostage. They weren't afraid because, much to their own disbelief, they had found that Gaara… _had a heart._

So they listened.

"I understand your anger," Gaara continued in the same loud voice. "Until recently, it was one of the few emotions that I understood. My father was the first in many generations that could demand the world's respect, and you idolised him for it. He brought you hope for a future, hope that your families might not be harmed under his protection, hope that the world might not look down upon us… My father disappointed you when he died, he failed to live up to his potential, he failed to be the hero that you needed him to be, and rather than blaming yourselves for your own failures, you are blaming a dead man."

"What do _you_ know about any of this? _You know nothing!_ You live _only_ to kill and destroy, you were born for that purpose!" Kaizawa screamed. "What do _you_ know about the losses _we _have suffered? This village has suffered for generations at the hands of every aggressor that thought they could take what's ours! Your father's stubbornness made us fail and because of him many good men died in vain!" Kaizawa's grip tightened around Temari's throat as he pressed the kunai hard and drew a line of blood.

Gaara understood. Kaizawa needed someone to punish, he wasn't interested in reason or logic, he simply needed vindication, in any way he could get it, and wasn't alone. "The sins of the father…"

"That's right!" Kaizawa said hysterically. Tears were flowing now, it was as if the Suna-nin was finally able to unleash the pent up anger and frustration within him by focusing it all on Gaara. His shinobi training was forgotten now.

"Cowards!" Kankurō shouted at the top of his lungs. "Weaklings! You are every bit as much responsible for-" Floating grains of sand caught Kankurō's attention.

Before they could follow his sight, Gaara spread his arms. "My brother and sister are weak, far too weak to ever have had any control over the situation. If you want your vengeance, then come and take it. My sand won't stop you. _Kill me_ and be done with it, but you _will not _harm them."

Kaizawa cackled with laughter, unaware he was the only one. Everyone else was too shocked to say anything, too stunned with disbelief at what Gaara was proposing. "You really expect me to believe you?" The deranged chūnin unsheathed the blade of a nearby subordinate and threw it to Kankurō.

The blade lodged into the sand and remained standing. "You are out of fucking mind if you think I'm going to play your game," Kankurō said.

"You'll do it or I'll slit your sister's throat!" Kaizawa's hand caressed Temari again; he kept his eyes on both brothers, taking perverse pleasure in provoking them, and even going as far as sliding in hand down slowly until… he had sealed his fate.

Kaizawa was a dead man, Kankurō decided in that moment. He grabbed the blade by the hilt and began a murderous stalk towards the traitor.

"Kankurō!" Gaara's voice thundered. "Do as he says. Do I have you word you will release my sister once you have your pound of flesh?"

"You're actually serious about this?" Kaizawa laughed hysterically. It was completely lost on him how the air had changed, how his men had begun to think differently. "_Sure, _as you wish! Kill him, puppet boy, before I shame your sister even more!" To make a point, Kaizawa squeezed.

_Fire _burned in Kankurō's stomach as he turned and raised the sword. 'If you're going to do something, you better do it now, Gaara! While their eyes are on us!' Kankurō gave an angry roar as he charged at his brother.

The blade swung down just as sand erupted, blasting the men skywards and encasing them in levitating Sand Coffins. Kankurō halted his momentum and turned, immediately running towards Temari as she slumped forward. He managed to catch her, and embraced her tightly.

"What took you so long?" Temari said weakly. She had been conscious the entire time, though too weakened by oxygen deprivation to be of much assistance and thus had feigned being unconscious, even through Kaizawa's…

Kankurō released her sister and rose, sword in hand, with a murderous look in his eye for the blob of sand from which Kaiza's head protruded. "Gaara, he's mine."

"No."

"You're right, he's _mine,_" Temari insisted.

Kankurō gave her a resentful look, though he couldn't blame her. The traitorous sensor had wronged them both.

"No."

They looked to Gaara simultaneously with matching look of disbelief and opened their mouths to argue, but he wouldn't have any of it. "No one dies."

"Gaara, what do you mean?" Temari had a hard time containing her own shock and disbelief while feigning being unconscious, but she was certain those words would have gotten her to blow her cover. "You're going to..." The word didn't simply feel right, it felt _foreign _even, especially in association with her younger brother. "_Spare them?"_

"Whatever I may think of him… Father was a hero to them. His failure is our failure, and despite what we may tell ourselves, we failed them too," he explained calmly. "Though, if I must be honest, I am… _glad _that we did."

Kankurō understood.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Temari hadn't been there when Gaara confided in him, she hadn't realised how much Gaara had changed. Kankurō placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. His hatred for Kaizawa was still there, but he understood what was more important. Gaara had changed, to make press him into taking another life simply wouldn't be right. "It's his life they were after, it's his call."

Under normal circumstances Temari wouldn't have let it go, she would have pressed the issue until she got a satisfactory result, but she was not oblivious. "Fine."

"You really think we're going to believe you?" Kaizawa crooned provocatively. "You're not fooling anyone, _demon._"

Gaara looked straight at him.

"What, you don't like that word, _demon_?" Kaizawa sneered.

"Just shut up, Kaizawa," another Suna shinobi said quietly. "Just accept your fate like a man. It's over."

"You think he'll spare you for those words, fool? He _has to _kill us, it's what he does! It's a compulsion, isn't it?" Kaizawa looked Gaara in the eyes, his expression faltered. "What's with that look? Don't you look at me as if you can _pity _me, _demon."_

"I remember you now," Gaara said. "You had a brother. Kaizawa… your brother was in my father's guard."

Temari looked at the suspended jōnin, she could clearly see his face now.

"Kaizawa Daisuke," Kankurō supplied. "I remember how proudly you said his name when you told me he had died with our father, protecting him, loyal to the bitter end. It's why it comes as such a shock you would do something like this, Masaki."

"You have a lot of nerve addressing me so familiarly, scum! Your father-"

"Enough." Gaara lowered the Sand Coffins and crossed his arms again. It took considerably more control to keep thirty men bound securely especially when they were levitated. "You keep blaming our father as though he is the cause for all the misery in your life. Why don't you take some responsibility for your own failures instead of hiding behind excuses and scapegoats because you don't want to acknowledge your own shortcomings? Coward."

"Just kill me and be done it with, _demon._" Kaizawa Masaki fell silent and resigned to his fate.

Gaara contemplated his next decision. He was certain that, despite what they had done, he didn't want to kill them, he didn't want more blood on his hand if he could help it, least of all blood from fellow Suna shinobi. Mere weeks ago he would have killed them without second thought, months before that it wouldn't even have come to this, he might even have allowed Temari to die. But now? Things were different. _He _was different.

'I don't want to be that person again,' Gaara realised. 'I don't want to be alone again.'

_"The pain of being alone… it's out of this world, isn't it? I don't know why… but I understand your feelings so much, it actually hurts. But I… I have people that are important to me now. I won't let you hurt them." **(2)**_

Those words had haunted him ever since Uzumaki Naruto had spoken them. As bitter as defeat was, they gave him hope that he might believe in them, that he might change because of them.

And now he had changed.

Gaara closed his eyes. "No one dies." The Sand Coffins began to dissolve; the captives were free before either Temari or Kankurō could complain, not that they would.

"Wh- What is the meaning of this?" Kaizawa demanded in a voice so filled with disbelief it was a genuine. "Why won't you kill us – is this some _trick_?"

Some of the released rebels began to murmur amongst themselves, though the majority were fell in a shock-induced silence.

"In my defeat… I found hope." Gaara silenced them all with those words. "All my life I believed I was _fated _to become the incarnation of evil, and that death and destruction were all I was good for. I didn't believe in things such as friendship and family because I didn't think I was worthy of being considered human, of being able to have and appreciate those things… It wasn't until I met Uzumaki Naruto, a jinchūriki like me, someone who understood me and _felt my pain _simply by _looking_ at me… It wasn't until then that I realised that I could be something else, something _more _than what I am now."

He didn't know if any of this was breaking through to them, he didn't know whether they would believe him, or whether they were truly listening in the first place, or even whether they'd stop trying to kill him, but as Gaara told them everything that had been on his mind since his defeat, as he _bared his soul_ to them, he felt an _immense _weight lift off his shoulders. For the first time in his life, Gaara felt as though he was _human, _as though he was _changing _– _really_ changing_._ He couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to.

"In defeat I learned what is truly important, I learned that fighting for myself would never bring me peace, and that my resolve would always fail against someone who fought not his own sake but for those who were important to him." Gaara did something unusual: he _smiled_. It wasn't one of his usual wicked, murderous grins he had when he was under the influence of Shukaku. It was a_ genuine _smile. "I didn't realise it until now that I've had people important to me around me all along. My brother and sister are important to me, I want to protect them, and I'll fight for their sake to protect them."

From the corner of his eye Kankurō could see tears welling up in his sister's eyes. He hadn't seen Temari cry since they were little, she hadn't even cried when they heard about their father's death. He couldn't fault her though; his own emotions were threatening to get the better of them.

"If you'll let me, I'll fight for your sake too," Gaara said finally, in a voice so strikingly genuine he couldn't hide it if he wanted and they couldn't ignore it. "Uzumaki Naruto fights for his village, it made him strong, stronger than I ever could be, but more importantly, it gave him something much more valuable: it gave him _peace_. I want to do the same, I want to be like him, so I won't kill you. I won't hurt you. Instead…"

Gaara didn't know if he had the courage to say the words to commit to his change, but somehow he found it deep in the pit of his stomach.

"I'll become Kazekage and protect you with my life."

The tears were flowing freely by now, and Temari wasn't the only one. Amongst the men Gaara had spared many fell to their knees and cried for forgiveness, whilst others remained in a state of shock or had their guilt eat at them. Even Kaizawa Masaki was without words as he cried, his head pressed to sand and fists clenched tightly.

Kankurō wiped his eyes with his sleeve, pulling Temari in one-armed embrace as the men clung on to Gaara's robes crying for forgiveness.

For the first time ever, the sand did not intervene. There was no threat left to be exterminated, no enemy to defend its host from.

"He's going to do it," Temari said wiping away the tears. "He's changed, Kankurō."

"I know, sis," Kankurō replied, a grin plastered on his face.

"I never thought it possible," a familiar voice said.

The two turned as Baki approached them. Several feet behind him a host of fifty or so shinobi remained standing. The seasoned jōnin had a look of pride in his eye as he watched Gaara separate himself from the mass and kneel by Masaki. "I didn't think this day would ever come."

"None of us did," Temari said chokingly. She was beside herself with happiness, she felt she had just witnessed a miracle. Perhaps she did. "They're all in love with him now, they believe in him," she said as more shinobi began to circle around Gaara.

They were chanting his name.

A smile found itself on Baki's usually stern face. "I heard everything. It appears Gaara has inherited whatever power Uzumaki did."

Kankurō gave a confused frown. "What do you mean?"

"Whatever power Uzumaki had over Gaara that allowed him to change him, it looks like he's passed it on, that unique charisma that inspires trust in others," Baki expanded vaguely. "I've never seen anything like it."

Brother and sister could only nod in understanding. What Baki was saying, as strange as it was, they knew there was some truth to it. They had seen their brother change before them, and they had witnessed the power of that change.

They knew then and there that they were looking at the next Kazekage.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Valley)

The jungle was breathtakingly beautiful at night. A touch of cool breeze clung to the night air soothingly, and the night sky was a beautiful mix of black, blue and indigo, adorned without countless stars shining so brightly Naruto couldn't think of anything any more beautiful.

"This place is all right," he mused, lied down in the tall grass. "When things aren't killing me I mean." He chuckled a little. "I'm talking to myself already." To be perfectly honest, he wasn't feeling lonely in the slightest. If anything he felt more at peace now than he had in Konoha, lying in jungle grass with the most beautiful view he'd ever had, nice breeze on his skin and the sound of babbling brooks and unseen critters shifting through darkness.

'So this is what's like to _actually _decompress, huh? It's nice.' Naruto never decompressed much before, he was usually to busy for that, or fighting for his life or someone else's. His days off were usually spent fooling around or in the company in the others.

For the first time in a _long _time was completely alone with his thoughts. It was surprisingly relaxing.

Naruto pulled his pendant from under his bodysuit and admired it properly. The Shodai Hokage had worn this thing, probably even in battle. Words couldn't describe how cool that was, just the thought made his lips twitch in a smile. Now that he thought it about it, he had an unusual connection the Hokage. His father was the Yondaime; the Sandaime raised him and he was related by blood to the Shodai, Nidaime and Godaime through his mother's side. Sarugaku's suspicion of him made more sense now than it had before.

It was almost like a higher power was at work. Surely his connection to the past Hokage couldn't be a mere coincidence? Head resting one arm and another stretched as though grasping at the curtain of darkness that was the sky, Naruto let his mind wander from the Hokage to his mother.

The Uzumaki clan was something else if his mother was able to protect him shortly after surviving a bijū extraction and childbirth, two ordeals of which was certain to kill the _average _jinchūriki, if such a thing even existed, and another potentially lethal for any woman, but even more so for a jinchūriki who'd have to go through the pain of labour whilst warding off a _bijū._ That impressed him even more than his father's legacy, and it _meant_ more to him than anything ever could because of the simple fact she did it for _him_.

The fact he lived was undeniable proof that he was loved when he was brought into the world. That was something most children took for granted, in their minds their parents were supposed to love them, that was their job, but for a lonely orphan who knew nothing about his parentage or background, it was normal to assume the worst; that they weren't loved or wanted but instead perceived as something negative, an inconvenience.

Naruto had vowed never to let his children ever feel that way if he ever settled down, which was a greater uncertainty for him than anyone else he knew seeing as he was a jinchūriki _and _had an organisation of S-ranked shinobi that made it their business to hunt him down and extract the Kyūbi from him

'If they weren't assholes trying to kill me they could have the damn thing.' Ever since he found out he was the host to his parents' killer his resentment for the Kyūbi had grown exponentially. He hated the beast, pure and simple. If it was within his power he'd make the fox suffer for eternity. 'To think I felt sorry for him…' As much as he feared the fox, he knew it was not much different from a caged bird, and in some ways, he could relate to it, but there was nothing in this world that could make him forgive the bijū for killing his parents and subsequently making his life a living hell. He could only imagine now what life would have been like if his parents were alive, he doubted he would have to hide his secret.

Naruto released a sigh; it wasn't like him to ponder what-if scenarios. As comfortable as he was, he knew it was time to get going. He was rested well enough and he had a deadline to make.

'One day down, six more to go,' he thought as he got up and shouldered his bag.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

I sincerely hope that was worth the wait. Probably not, but it's what you get for now. I had a recent realisation the other day: I suck at keeping promises with regards to my stories. I don't know what it is, I try to stay motivated, inspired to write as much as I can, but for some reason I'm never able to do that. My creative process is chaotic. When _it _hits me, I feel compelled to write it down and sometimes I can write entire chapters based on just one impulse. Other times I manage a few pages, sometimes only a few sentences. It's hectic, it's inconsistent, but it's me. And you know what? In a way, I'm glad I don't force myself to be like other author's who have seem to have insatiable hunger for writing. I envy those guys like Kenchi618 and Sarah1281 to name a few. They can put out genius and rates that just don't seem human, but as much as I wish I could be like that, I simply can't. The few times I've managed to force myself to put pen to paper (figuratively and literally) I wrote garbage. Not only that, I find myself wishing I hadn't because then sometimes I'm hit with sudden inspiration, something great, something awesome I wish I could've incorporated in a chapter. Usually when you I make you guys wait so long for chapters, and trust me, I _really _am sorry I do that, I often manage to come up with and include awesome new ideas. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how this story would've turned out if I hadn't held back for with some chapters. Anyway, enough about me.

While Naruto's off training, I'll be using this opportunity to focus on some other things, characters that don't get much screen time, ideas I have for the story, exposition and so on. I wonder how many of you thought that bit about Fukuda Shinya at the start of chapter 18 was just me being random.

OK, this AN is getting a tad long so I'll end it here. Again, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you think. I'd promise earlier updates but you guys should know how full of shit I am by now. I'll see you when I see ya, but if you're still up for more, there's that The Uzumaki Decendant story I've been writing. Slow updates on that one too but it's an interesting read if the reviews are anything to go by, plus a new chapter should be out soon.

**Notes**

(1) It's not clear whether this conversation between Gaara and Kankurō took place after the Chūnin Exams or somewhere during the timeskip, but for the sake of the plot, I've pushed it to post Chūnin Exams. Remember: this story has gone down a different path so a lot of things may be different or told differently.

(2) More or less a direct quote from Naruto to Gaara after their fight. Various sources have got it differently but this is what I'm going with.

**Character Stats**

_Team 7_

Uchiha Sasuke | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 3 | Bukijutsu: 2.5 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 3 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 29 |**

Uzumaki Naruto | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 2.5 | Bukijutsu: 1.5 | Genjutsu: 1 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2.5 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 4.5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control: 2.5 **| Total: 28 |**

Haruno Sakura | Ninjutsu: 1.5 | Taijutsu: 2 | Bukijutsu: 1 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 2 | Chakra: 2 | Chakra Control: 4 **| Total: 22.5 |**

_Sand Siblings_

Gaara | Ninjutsu: 3 | Taijutsu: 1 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 3 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2.5 | Stamina: 3.5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 30.5 |**

Kankurō | Ninjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 1.5 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3.5 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 2.5 | Chakra Control: 4 **| Total: 26.5 |**

Temari | Ninjutsu: 2.5 | Taijutsu: 1.5 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 3 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 2 | Speed: 2 | Stamina: 3 | Chakra: 2.5 | Chakra Control: 3.5 **| Total: 26.5 |**


	21. Chapter 21: The Climb

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 28-12-13_

_Updated: 30-12-13_

**_If you thought you weren't getting one last chapter before 2014, you were wrong, sucka! And it's a pretty lengthy chapter too! Also, I've recently updated The Uzumaki Descendant if any of you care. Also, a big, big thank you goes out to _****Rainord_ who created an AWESOME piece of fanart of Rei. It's bloody awesome. Check it out on my profile page. _**

**_I sincerely suggest you re-read chapter 13 if you're a bit foggy on some of the stuff that goes down, i.e. the summit. OK, that's all I'm saying for now. Enjoy, and please do review. Last chapter didn't review so well compared to others, but I promise this arc will be the last slow one in a while, or ever really. _**

**_Enjoy and please remember to review! _**

**_Currently unedited_**

**_Spelling checks by goku90504_**

* * *

><p>CH21: The Climb<p>

* * *

><p>(Mount Kongōurin Jungle)<p>

The earth trembled and rumbled forebodingly as the trees shook as though they were about to be uprooted, casting leaves and fruits to the ground. A shout could be heard from a distance in the lush, tropical jungle afoot the great mountain, followed by the distinct sounds of a feral roar and an angry trumpet as Naruto ran for dear life, jumping over bushes and trunks, ducking under low hanging branches and side stepping a lounge of lizards, hissing and snapping their razor sharp teeth at his ankles.

"_Fuuuuuck me!_"

It had been three days since Naruto had set foot in the jungle, by which time he had gained new appreciation for the challenge he had set himself with. His clothes were torn and he looked like he had lost some weight. The bags under his eyes indicated it had been a while since he had a good night's sleep.

He would have taken the time to berate himself some more if it were the time or place, but given the fact he had a pissed off jungle cat and elephant on his tail, now was neither the time nor the place. In fact, now wasn't the time much for anything other than getting the hell out of there.

A feral growl prompted him to look over his shoulder for a second. It looked like his new friends got in a tussle with the lizards. The jungle cat swiped at the reptiles and bore it fangs whilst the elephant behind it reared in terror.

Naruto sighed in relief. 'Well that was lucky.'

As soon as he finished that thought a rhino charged through the jungle and made a beeline for the young shinobi. Quick on his feet, Naruto jumped on its horn and used it as a springboard to launching into a tree. The jungle trees were rather dense and usually occupied by all manners of creatures he usually avoided but he wasn't exactly in a position to be picky.

Crouched on a thick branch, he looked down to the animals. It seemed that his presence had set off some kind of battle royale amongst them. The rhino joined the fray, charging into the jungle cat with its horn. Naruto felt a pinch of guilt; it hadn't been his intent, but if he hadn't been sighted by the jungle cat and cut through the elephant's territory, it wouldn't have led to this. Then he reminded himself of the fact that they would have killed him and tore up him open just like they were doing to one of the lizards if they had caught him. The guilt quickly faded.

Interestingly enough, the conflict kind of reminded him of his history lessons in his academy days. An odd sensation roused him from his thought as he found a snake slithering up his arm. Suffice to say, he hadn't been aware of the sounds a man could make when truly terrified.

He had no reservations of guilt whatsoever when he jammed a kunai in the snake's skull and furiously shook it off. He rubbed his arm to get rid of the disgusting sensation tingling in his limb. A high-pitched laugh caught his attention as he turned and found a monkey hanging upside down by its tail.

"He nearly had you!"

Upon closer inspection of its red fur and amber eyes, Naruto recognised the monkey for the leader of the pack of rascals that had accosted him on his first day. "You!"

"Me!" the monkey replied cheerfully. "The name's Yanchazaru!" The mischievous ape held a particularly enticing piece of fruit in its hand. "Want some?"

Naruto grudgingly accepted the banana and peeled it immediately. He was famished, and beggars couldn't be choosers. "Naruto."

"Is that your name?" Yancha asked.

He nodded took a bite. He immediately felt rejuvenated, as though he had taken a handful of soldier pills. "Wow." He blinked a few times.

"Do you like it?" Yancha looked expectantly. "It's from the centre of the jungle. It's super dangerous to get but it's really tasty and ener-something."

"Energising?" Naruto suggested.

"Right! My dad says that's because the earth is super special in the centre of the jungle so all the fruit that grow there are really tasty. We have some on the mountain too but that's too easy."

"You purposefully came down here to pick fruit you can get at home because it's more _exciting_ that way?" The monkey nodded as though it were the most understandable thing in the world. He stared for a moment, somewhat surprised he could relate to that. "Well okay then."

"Hey, wanna be friends?" Yanchazaru asked with the same enthusiasm. "I don't know any humans from the outside world."

'Yep, he definitely reminds me of Konohamaru.' He mirrored the little monkey's grin. "Sure," he said as he grasped Yancha's tiny hand in his own. "Friends."

"Alright! Now that we're friends I can help you! Follow me!"

Naruto chomped on the remaining piece of his banana as he followed suit. He had a feeling his new friend was going to be a handful but a worthwhile companion.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Tsunade smiled pleasantly as the door to her office opened and Hyūga Hiashi strode in. "Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, Hiashi-dono."

"My pleasure, Hokage-dono," the Hyūga clan leader gave a modest bow.

Tsunade gestured to he take a seat by her desk. "I have called you here to discuss matters regarding your most recent clan report."

Hiashi raised an intrigued eyebrow. "I am listening."

Tsunade opened the document in question and pointed to a highlighted section. "In your report you made a particular comment regarding shinobi discipline, or lack thereof."

"I did," Hiashi nodded. "I take it your own investigation in the matter has validated my concerns?"

"It has," Tsunade acknowledged.

Hiashi stroked a crease in his fine kimono. "Have you come up with a solution then?"

"My investigation concluded that the Home Garrison is structured in a way that is inefficient when it comes to dealing with complaints and exercising disciplinary action to an acceptable standard." Tsunade knew _Hiashi_ knew where she was going with this but carried on anyway. "Division authority figures are expected to uphold standards and to discipline their own. Naturally this level of trust comes with its risks and judging from the inordinate amount of complaints I've received in the short time I've been in office, it is clear to me the current model doesn't work and something must be done."

"You have my full attention, Hokage-dono," Hiashi said politely.

"My granduncle created the Military Police to uphold standards, and he entrusted the Uchiha clan with full authority as a means of a peace offering when my grandfather was elected to Hokage over Uchiha Madara." The Godaime gave pause as she considered her words. This would take some finesse. "Now the Uchiha are no longer with us and the Military Police has been shutdown for the better part of a decade."

"And you wish for the Hyūga to revive the Military," Hiashi anticipated her words. The proud clan leader shook his head. "If that is the case, I must respectfully decline, Hokage-dono. The Uchiha were orchestrated and alienated due to their ties with that particular organisation. I will not have the Hyūga clan suffer the same fate."

Tsunade forced a smile. She had expected his initial response. "I'm afraid I must insist, Hiashi-dono."

The Hyūga clan leader did not like that and his expression reflected it. "I beg your pardon. You insist?"

"I'm afraid I must." Tsunade opened a drawer and withdrew a dossier and dropped it on the desk. "This is a condensed log of the Hyūga clan's contribution to the village over the past ten years. Taxes, missions, and virtually every noteworthy fact or figure is in here. _Including _your offshore investments, on which you pay next to zero, if any at all, taxes through means of loopholes and privileges as a registered shinobi force of Hi no Kuni."

Hiashi gave a hard stare. "Where are you going with this, Hokage-dono?" His voice rang cold as ice now, void of all pleasantry.

"This," Tsunade replied as she withdrew three significantly thicker dossiers and piled them up. "These files alone belong to the Akimichi clan. As you can see for yourself, Hiashi-dono, the Hyūga have contributed next to nothing when compared to a clan of similar size and prominence. I should add the Akimichi clan's assets are estimated at barely a _third _of the Hyūga."

"I do not appreciation the implications, Hokage-dono." Hiashi composed himself. "The Hyūga clan has time and again proven itself to be loyal to country and village. The Byakugan-"

"Is and remains a valuable asset," Tsunade interrupted calmly. "However, and forgive me if I offend you, Hiashi-dono, it is my opinion that value has been sorely overstated."

"I beg your pardon!" the Hyūga clan leader outraged.

'So much for finesse,' Tsunade thought. Then again she was a straight shooter, always had been, and always would be. Hiruzen never seriously considered her to inherit his mantle for precisely that reason. The Sandaime preferred to play the game of politics, but Tsunade was a little too blunt.

Like a brick to the face.

"My predecessor felt the need to pander to your needs after the Uchiha Massacre by allowing you special privileges, tax allowances and many other benefits," she cut to the chase. "He even took great risk in manoeuvring through a tense political climate after you _killed_ a Kumo ambassador and nearly trigged a war in the process. A war we would have very likely lost I might add." Tsunade's hazel eyes bore into his. "You have given nothing of value in return, until now. It is time the Hyūga repay their debts and earn their keep once again."

Hiashi regained his composure. His dignity as a clan leader prevented him from allowing further outbursts. "Even if you strong arm me into accepting this responsibility, the clan elders will never allow it," he informed. "The Hyūga will not allow themselves to be the sole bearers of responsibility and the resentment of the village."

"You make quite the assumption there, Hiashi-dono," Tsunade said with an unnervingly pleasant smile. "I have no intention of emulating my granduncle's mistakes. I am fully aware of the consequences leading the Military Police had for the Uchiha and I will not visit such ill repute on you."

Hiashi seemed, ever so slightly, _relieved_, though he was too dignified to acknowledge it. "Then what do you propose?"

"I propose _you_ assume the position of Chief of the Military Police," Tsunade proposed. "Appointing members will be up to you and the Shinobi Assignment Department. You will be free to recruit outside your own clan of course. I believe the Akimichi, Nara, Yamanka and Inuzuka clans in particular would not be opposed to contributing."

"And if I refuse this proposal?" Hiashi attempted one last challenge.

Tsunade rested her chin on folded hands. "Then consider all privileges revoked effective immediately and be assured that I will personally see to it the Hyūga are reviewed with all due scrutiny. One way or another, you will repay your debts, _Hiashi_."

Hiashi held her gaze, a light frown permeating his otherwise elegant features. After a moment, the Hyūga permitted himself a light, conceding smile, not doubt masking his contempt for her. "You drive a hard bargain, Hokage-dono."

Tsunade smiled inwardly. She had him by the balls and he knew it. "I expect to hear from you soon, Hiashi-dono." The Godaime rose out of her chair and gestured to the door, signalling the end of their meeting.

"What of the Uchiha boy?" Hiashi asked as he stood. "By our laws, he is entitled to a seat on the board of the Military Police."

"He is not yet of age and therefore he can claim neither his clan seat nor his seat on the board," Tsunade assuaged. "Even so, I will see to it he is informed. From what little I know of him, he is not unreasonable. He will understand."

"I leave it in your capable hands, Hokage-dono," the Hyūga clan leader said with a respectful bow before taking his leave.

Tsunade sat back down with a satisfied grin. That had gone smoother than she thought it would. No doubt, Hiashi wasn't done resisting her yet, but she was confident she could handle him. She may have been a poor gambler, but there was one thing Tsunade never lost at when gambling: herself. She'd put her reputation and future as Hokage on the line to get things done.

-ooo-

(Forest of Death)

Three gruelling days had passed by the time Sasuke found Anko on an elevated rock formation in a clearing surrounded by tall grass under the stars in the company of four tigers stretched out lazily with signs of puncture wounds apparent on their hides, most likely from her more venomous snakes. The specialist jōnin sat on the back of one particularly large tiger, an exotic looking drink in her hand and a novel in the other.

"Hi there! Took you long enough to find me, you're only past the deadline by..." she glanced to her watch, "Forty-eight hours. Not bad."

Clothes torn, skin bruised and stomach painfully grumbling, Sasuke was in no mood for her antics. "Take off… the seal…" was about all he managed as he lumbered towards her. If he could, he _genuinely_ would have killed her. He had been barely out of his coma when she dragged him out here and had him fend for himself without the means of chakra for three days straight. "_Now!_"

Anko jumped off the rock formation and sipped her drink. "Tsk! Tsk!" She wagged her finger. "That's no way to ask a favour from a lady. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

The look in his eye didn't bode well.

Anko feigned embarrassment, placing a hand her mouth. "Oh, right, my bad. Too soon? I mean, it's only been about _seven years._"

Sasuke's skin tightened painfully over his bony knuckles. "I'm going to kill you."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, and then snorted, guffawing as she carried on laughing for nearly a full minute. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know you were supposed to look scary just now but you've got bird shit in you hair and you look like you just fought off sexual advances from a bear, unsuccessfully I should add."

Temper flaring, the Uchiha used the remainder of his strength to charge at her and swing an angry fist. Anko simply leant back and took another sip off her drink as he fell to the ground.

"That famous Uchiha temper!" she chided as she put a foot on the back of his head. "Before you pass out, I'm going to make this nice and easy for you to understand, OK? You listening?" She pressed her foot down harder. Sasuke responded with an obscenity that earned him another mouthful of dirt. "_That _is most certainly not a word you should call a lady!" She relented only to prevent him from suffocating. "Now listen up, I'm going to use my infinite wisdom and awesomeness to teach you how to deal with Orochimaru's little love bite, and no, this isn't optional. Until ol' Scarecrow comes and claims your sorry ass, you're my bitch, understood?"

Sasuke gave a muffled response.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Anko decided cheerfully as a purple serpent slithered from out of her sleeve. "You're too weak to get started right now so I'm going to put you in a nice slumber for the next, oh, I don't know, ten hours? That oughta do it. When you wake up, we'll get started for realsies."

The serpent struck Sasuke before he could do so much as shake his head, sinking its fangs in shoulder. Sleep followed shortly after.

-ooo-

(Kōseki no Kuni)

A wave of nostalgia washed over Jiraiya as he hiked up a deserted dirt road into a remote, relatively well-hidden mountain terrain. His journey had brought him to Mineral Country, or more specifically, the surrounding territory of Ishigakure. It had been a while since he had visited the village hidden amongst the stones, little over two years if he recalled correctly.

Ishigakure was hidden in a maze of stone mountain terrain. Finding it without an up to date map was difficult to say the least. The shinobi of Ishi periodically rearranged the mountain with doton jutsu in case of an attack. Jiraiya had personally installed their barrier jutsu at the village's inception decades ago, and though he figured he could locate the village with a few hours, he decided to politely inform them of his presence by spiking his chakra levels.

Most jōnin were skilled enough to suppress their chakra subconsciously. It was common for S-ranked ninja to suppress their chakra to the extent they could even fool the average sensor ninja. A particular young man he knew was born with the ability to suppress his chakra like most jinchūriki were.

Jiraiya smiled at no one in particular as he continued to rapidly increase his chakra output. He steadied his chakra levels once they reached a level just above that of an elite jōnin level. It had been a while and he wasn't expected, thus he decided against alarming them. A minor village like Ishigakure likely had little contact with Kage level chakra.

The sage counted the seconds in his mind. If it took them longer than ninety seconds for one of their squads to find him, they'd be considered sloppy. Konoha had an average response time of fifty seconds on the dot in case of a situation like this, due in part to their large Barrier Team division.

Eighty-five seconds later and Jiraiya was surrounded by at least fifteen shinobi in standard grey Ishi-nin attire, weapons drawn. 'Not bad.'

"Identify yourself!" the shinobi in charge ordered. He was tall with a lean build, and wore a slate grey Ishigakure flak jacket over black shinobi trousers and turtleneck. The shinobi carried their standard climbing gear; hooks, cables and a small oxygen tank to name a few. He had a crop of short black hair, brown eyes and a stern look about him.

Jiraiya knew the man, though he didn't recognise him immediately. "That's no way to talk to an old friend, Kuroki," he said with arms raised in mock surrender.

"Ji- Jiraiya-sama!" The Ishi-nin rounded on his subordinates. "Lower your weapons! This is Jiraiya of the Leaf, a legendary shinobi and friend to our village." Kuroki approached Jiraiya with an outstretched hand.

They clasped arms and embraced briefly. "You're in charge of a squad of your own now, huh?" It felt like it was only yesterday when he met the Ishi jōnin twenty-odd years ago. He had been a rambunctious child, eager to learn ninjutsu and prove himself useful to his newly found village.

Kuroki beamed. "It has been too long, Jiraiya-sama. Two years was it?"

"Sounds about right," the sage affirmed. "So, are you going to escort me to the village?"

"Of course." Kuroki signalled his squad with rotating gesture. "Move out, we're escorting Jiraiya-sama to the village."

Moments later the Ishi-nin were escorting Jiraiya down a series of turns in the maze-like terrain. They made small talk during their trek; Kuroki had a great many questions and Jiraiya was in a good enough mood to humour him. It was clear from their expressions that Kuroki's subordinates weren't used to their captain being so cheerful.

Jiraiya had some questions of his own after they spoke at length of his travels. "How is Kinzen doing?"

"Kinzen-sama is in good spirits," Kuroki informed with sudden apathy. "I am sure he will be delighted to have your company."

He wasn't being completely honest but Jiraiya decided not to press it. "He drank me under the table last time, I'm here for payback. Even brought some sake from Mount Mybōku for the occasion!"

The Ishi-nin merely smiled and muttered a forced response before picking up the pace, his initial excitement now clearly overshadowed by something heavy on his mind.

"We're here," Kuroki announced a short while later.

They had arrived at the stone gates of Ishigakure no Sato; thirty feet tall, complete with steel doors and watchtowers. They were welcomed back with relatively little fanfare. Jiraiya noticed the looks as Kuroki led him through the modest village. For whatever reason, his presence seemed to puzzle the people of the Hidden Stone. That was odd in and of itself considering the village's amiable ties with Konoha and, in the past at least, considerable admiration for the Sannin in particular. Jiraiya and Orochimaru had trained a great many of their youngsters who were now most likely jōnin like Kuroki. Jiraiya had fond memories of when the women used to throw themselves at him. There were decidedly less people out and about as well, far less than what Jiraiya had expected. He had fond memories of the village's liveliness, which was nowhere to be found now.

They arrived at the largest building in the village located at its northern walls. It was a square, grey building made of concrete, surrounded by steel gates and barbed wire. 'Looks like Kinzen renovated.' An uneasy feeling was gradually growing in the pit of Jiraiya's stomach. He was well aware of the tense political climate between Stone and Rock, and how it had reached new heights shortly after the invasion when Konoha was weakened. There had even been a few skirmishes, of which Ishi had lost significantly more than they won.

"Kuroki, I haven't heard from Kinzen in a while, so I'm going to have ask you." The younger man tensed. "Did Iwa pull anything recently? I'm not talking about minor skirmishes. Did something happen?"

"I'm not at liberty to speak for the village, Jiraiya-sama," Kuroki replied respectfully, a somewhat apologetic look in his eye. "I am sure Kinzen-sama will answer your questions. This way, please."

Jiraiya followed his lead as the squad broke off to stand guard at the entrance. The interior of the village headquarters was plain and modest, grey like seemingly everything else in the village.

"Through here, please." Kuroki gestured to a set of double doors leading to an office and took his place by the door.

Jiraiya gave him a curious look over before turning the handle and pushing through into the office.

"Jiraiya, old friend."

The Toad Sage looked across the room to a man roughly his own height and somewhat bulkier build, with a lighter tan, brown shoulder lengthy hair and green eyes. The man wore Ishigakure garb with a white robe over it, much like a Kage. 'That's new.'

Kinzen grinned. "It's been too long."

"It sure has, Kinzen." Jiraiya grinned as they met in a brotherly embrace halfway across the room. "You've put on weight!"

Kinzen patted his considerable gut, though his arms were still muscly and well defined even through his clothes. "I suppose I have. Come sit with me. I hope you brought some of that Mount Mybōku sake."

-ooo-

(Oto no Kuni – Otogakure Headquarters)

Orochimaru finished rereading the letter in his hand and lazily discarded it. "Feel free to read it," he permitted from his throne as Kabuto lurched over to pick it up. "It is of no interest to me."

Kabuto moved under a torch in the poorly lit cavern, spectacles shining in the light as he read the contents of the letter. "Interesting," he mused as finished reading. "So the time and date of the summit have been finalised." He paused a moment. "I take it you have no plans of attending, Orochimaru-sama?"

"None whatsoever," the Sannin confirmed as he reached for a glass beside him, swirling the blood red concoction in it. It was one of many tonics his modified body required him take every so often.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Your absence will be noted. The Shogun is known to hold grudges, Orochimaru-sama."

"As am I," the villainous snake reminded his subordinate. "If Sōgen decides to take this as a slight and does something foolish, he will know precisely why neither Akatsuki nor the Great Five have been able to take me down."

"I have no doubt you can crush him if you wish it so, Orochimaru-sama, but…" Kabuto said as he folded the letter and walked up the steps to the throne. "If I may speak freely?"

Orochimaru nodded. "Speak your mind, Kabuto."

"Orochimaru-sama, there is no reason why you shouldn't attend this summit. You could use Sōgen's support to settle matters with Akatsuki. They've been a thorn in our side for quite some time." The bespectacled spy placed the letter on the stand next to a tray of potions. "Powerful friends are always of use, one way or another. Is that not why you wished to recruit Tsunade to your cause?"

"Perhaps," Orochimaru considered. "However it is unlikely Akatsuki don't already have him in their pocket. In his earlier letter he stipulated I hand over the ring if I wished to attend."

Kabuto gave some thought to the facts. "How likely do you think it is the leader will be present, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Highly improbable," Orochimaru answered, tightly gripping his armrest with his free hand. "Most likely Pain will send Kakuzu to pose as the leader of Ame and Akatsuki. He is far too secretive and self-important to reveal himself at such an occasion."

"I see…" Kabuto pushed his glassed. "If it is Kakuzu he sends then there is far less to worry about. I believe this summit could be very informative, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru unhinged his jaw with a sickening _pop_ and poured the potion down his throat, grimacing at the putrid taste. "Very well," the Sannin breathed heavily. "If you feel so strongly about it, I will consider it." He wiped his mouth and reclined as the disgusting taste stuck to his freakishly long tongue. "Perhaps this summit could prove fruitful in unanticipated ways." The tonic took its toll on his body. "Leave me."

"Very well, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto bowed and showed himself out.

Orochimaru growled in pain. His vessel was beginning to reject him already, sooner than the last and that one had been unusually short already. It became apparent to the Sannin that battling his former sensei and teammates along with his intensive experiments were taking their toll on his body.

He needed a new vessel.

Soon.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin Jungle)

Clouds captivated his eyes as Naruto stood at the bottom of the mountain, head turned back so far it he neck was starting to ache. "That's… some mountain."

"Yeah, it takes super long to get up there," Yanchazaru hopped off his shoulder. "Not for me though. I'm super fast, I can climb it no problem."

"Ahuh," Naruto acknowledged absentmindedly. How many times had he regretted declaring a deadline for himself again? He had lost count by now. "I guess it'd be cheating if I flew up there, huh?"

Yancha's eyes widened with childlike awe. "You can fly?"

"No, but I have a buddy who can." Well, Senzaru wasn't exactly a _buddy_. It was perfectly clear to him the falcons only allowed him to summon them because they wanted him in their camp because of his strong chakra. It was flattering, but Naruto wasn't going to let that blind him to the facts. His old self might have, but he'd been listening to and learning from the old man and Jiraiya. Hell, even Tsunade had her occasional nuggets of wisdom to share. "Don't be an idiot" was a particularly good piece of advice the Godaime had parted with him. If only he had remembered before the absurd deadline popped into his head.

"Yeah… I'm an idiot," he said quietly to himself, continuing to look at the mountain. It seemed even more insurmountable after looking at it for so long.

"You can summon?" Yancha asked. "Is it apes? Dad tells me only human Sarutobi can summon monkeys."

"Human Sarutobi?" Naruto tore his eyes from the mountain and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"We're all Sarutobi here, apes and humans," the monkey explained simplistically. "We belong to the same clan. All of us. We're like a big family. Cool, huh?"

Naruto's expression softened with envy for a moment. "Yeah, it is." He extended his arm and let his new companion climb on his back. "I think I'm going to have to climb this on my own, so hold tight."

"Hold on tight for what?" Yancha asked as he began to step back and fixed his bracer on properly. "Cool!" the young ape exclaimed when the blades protruded from the rare metal.

Naruto figured he had gotten a long enough lead and checked his equipment before taking a runner's stance. "You ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Hold on tight!" Naruto began to run, quickly reaching his top speed whilst charging chakra to both his legs and his hands.

He leapt off the ground with a massive, chakra-enhanced jump and converted the chakra in his hands to wind. "Fūton: Shuishin Shō!"

Naruto timed the release of his Propulsion Palm technique to the best of his ability, aiming to release at the optimum time to gain as much air as possible. As gravity began to take effect, he released a power stream of air.

He expected the worst, but hoped for the best. The strain on his wrists was already becoming apparent, and it was painful enough for him force him to close his eyes.

"So you can fly!" Yancha squealed excitedly.

Naruto opened an eye and could hardly believe how high he was. And he was still going! Quickly, he shifted torso and corrected his course to the mountain. He could hardly believe how high his feet were from the ground. Usually he released his jutsu in one big burst, and it hurt like hell, but as it turned out, while releasing in a stream hurt even more, he got a whole lot more of a bang for his buck.

He couldn't help but shout to the heavens as he soared. "HELL YEAH!"

"HELL YEAH!" Yancha screamed in his ear.

Lost in euphoria, Naruto forgot about the pain, _and _failed to keep track of how much chakra he was expending. Like a pool with a giant hole in it, his chakra was rapidly draining, and if that wasn't bad enough, for some reason his body kept pushing more of it into his jutsu.

He had aimed for a boost but had taken off like a rocket instead.

And like all rockets, he eventually hit something. Hard.

The last thing he Naruto could remember of his flight was a lot of screaming and hard mountain surface.

-ooo-

(Elsewhere)

_Uchiha Shisui's body lied on a slab of stainless steel. The colour was drained from his grey and bloated skin. A man in a lab coat stood by the corpse speaking into a recording device. _

_"The individual identified as Uchiha Shisui has likely been dead for period between forty-eight and seventy-two hours. The blood on his fingertips and trauma on the optic nerves in the eye sockets indicate deliberate removal. A curious note: there is considerable more trauma in the right eye socket, possibly indicating forceful removal by either the individual or another party." The man in the lab coat paused the device. "Take that as you will, Uchiha-sama."_

_"The cause of death?" Fugaku_'s _stern voice echoed through the morgue. _

_"I was just getting there, Uchiha-sama." The device resumed with a click. "The cause of death is asphyxia caused by drowning, however there are defensive wounds present on the forearms. These consistent with defending one's self from multiple attackers. The wound in the subject's lower left abdomen would have likely killed Uchiha-san before long without intensive medical care. It's quite a peculiar wound. At first glace it appears the entry wound was caused by a short blade, a kunai or tantō perhaps, but upon further investigation we found residual wind chakra going as far as the exit wound, indicating Chakra Flow usage." The device clicked again._

_"Wind chakra?" Fugaku repeated. He looked troubled._

_"Yes," the pathologist affirmed. "It is quite rare in Hi no Kuni. Do you perhaps know something, Uchiha-sama?"_

_"No. That will be all." The clan head remembered his etiquette and nodded respectfully. "Thank you, doctor."_

_"My condolences, Uchiha-sama." The doctor gave a polite bow. "I shall go prepare the body for burial then."_

_"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist this stays off the books, doctor. The Uchiha clan will be investigating this matter internally. We are prepared to compensate you for your silence."_

_"But, Uchiha-sama-"_

_"If that is all, doctor, one of my clansmen will come to retrieve the body. I thank you for your cooperation." Fugaku looked to this son. "Itachi, we're leaving."_

_Itachi stared blankly at Shisui's face. There was a ghost of a smile on his features. Shisui's life had ended early and in tragedy, yet he had welcomed death with a smile knowing he had done his duty._

_"Now, Itachi!"_

Itachi woke with a start, gasping for air and coughing. He was drenched in cold sweat and shivering. Shisui plagued his mind when he closed his eyes, so he kept them open, and though unfocused his mind vaguely recognising his surroundings. They had found a cave to spend the night in on the way to their assigned mission. Itachi rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up, reaching for his cloak.

Kisame stoked a shallow fire by the entrance to the cave. "You're up early," the former Kiri-nin remarked.

"I'm not tired," Itachi lied as he sat down and rubbed his hands. After a long silence he said, "It looks like we're in the clear."

"From Leader?" Kisame stoked the fire some more.

Itachi nodded. "I had a feeling he might have lied to us."

"Can't hurt to be paranoid." Kisame shrugged and offered the stoking stick to his partner. "If you're not tired, I'm going to get some shut-eye."

Itachi nodded and focused on the fire as the large shark-man reached for Samehada. "Hey, Itachi."

"What is it, Kisame?"

"Who's Shisui?"

Itachi looked over his shoulder. "Why do you ask?"

"You said his name a few times in your sleep." Kisame almost sound worried. "It's none of my business, but there's only one Shisui I've heard of, an Uchiha by the moniker Shunshin no Shisui. He was young but even I heard of him on occasion."

"Goodnight, Kisame." Itachi turned back to the fire and poked at the flames. His partner lumbered off without so much as a grunt, evidently respecting their boundaries.

Itachi was grateful, both for Kisame's understanding, and the opportunity to reflect by himself. It had been years since Shisui haunted him. The last time he had such dreams was before the massacre. It was to honour Shisui that he agreed to carry out the mission.

_"You're my best friend and the only one I can count on… Protect the village… and the Uchiha name."_

He had a promise to keep then. He had stained his sole but the dreams had stopped. Why was Shisui once again haunting him? What unfinished business did he have in Konoha that his promise demanded he deal with?

-ooo-

(Kōseki no Kuni)

Jiraiya pushed his away his plate and dapped his mouth with a napkin. "Alright, I admit it, that has to be best steak I've ever had." The sage gave a word of thanks to the servant that took away their plates away.

"I told ya," Kinzen said as he refilled their drinks. "As good as it is to you see, old friend, unlike you, I do have some responsibilities, so this'll be my last one for the night."

"How did you get to be in charge of this village, Kinzen?" Jiraiya reached for his drink. "I thought you guys ran this place as a council. I've noticed you got yourself a fancy white robe as well."

"No need to be suspicious, old friend," Kinzen said belching as he waved him off dismissively. "A lot has changed since the last time you were here. The village council agreed that it would be best to restructure our village. I don't know how I got this job either, I didn't even volunteer for it. The robe was the council's idea, it's supposed to make me look more imposing. They think the world will take us seriously if I dress up like one of the Gokage. I know it's stupid."

"Then why do it?" Jiraiya feigned indifference but he knew better. It was often the little things that betrayed the bigger picture.

"Beats me." Kinzen rose out of his chair and pat his stomach with a depressed sigh. "Can you believe it, Jiraiya? I'm an overweight shinobi. How does that happen?"

"You kidding? You could pass for a swimsuit model next to an Akimichi." They shared a good laugh at the joke, exaggerated as it was. Ever observant, Jiraiya had noticed Kinzen's appetite seemed somewhat odd. He never knew his old war buddy to be much of an eater. What had changed, was it stress from his responsibilities new? Something else perhaps?

"Why are you here, Jiraya?" Kinzen seemed eager to get to the bottom it. "I mean, I love ya like a brother, but the last time you were here you were gone in minutes."

"You know why I'm here, Kinzen." Jiraiya put his drink down and held the village leader's gaze. "I'm here for the summit, Kinzen."

It was apparent Kinzen was displeased by that. He looked pale for a moment, as though horrified by the news. "Look, Jiraiya, I told you I've got it covered. Ishi will stand with Konoha. You have my word on that. Isn't that enough, anymore?"

"I trust you with my life, Kinzen," Jiraiya lied smoothly. Maybe he did once, but something was _definitely _off. He had sensed it the entire evening. "It's not like Konoha thinks Ishi is up to something nefarious. We've bled together, old friend. I'm simply here to make sure things go without incident."

Kinzen frowned at him. "And how do you expect to do that?"

"I'll be escorting you to the summit in Shimo no Kuni." Jiraiya reached for his drink as he let that sink in. "I'm not going to let you go in there unprotected. Sōgen is no joke."

"You insult me, Jiraiya. We both know your concern for my safety isn't what spurred this." The Hidden Stone leader gave a hard stare. "I'd rather you keep your distance, Jiraiya. For all our sakes."

"It's precisely for all our sakes that I have to accompany you, Kinzen," Jiraiya asserted bluntly. "Come on, it'll be fun." The Sage tried to lighten the mood by patting Kinzen on the shoulder and cracking a smile. "Just like old times. The two of us doing something stupidly dangerous and getting away with it."

Eventually Kinzen's stern gaze relented; he shook his head, chuckling a little. "You're a stubborn son of a bitch, you know that?"

"I wouldn't know." They laughed heartily over the old inside joke. Neither of them had known their parents.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Naruto awoke with a groan and a throbbing headache. It felt like he'd split his skull. Hell, he might have. 'Is that… blood?' Naruto removed his hand from the back of his head and found a thin coat of mostly dried blood. "_Fuck_."

"You're awake!" Yancha bounded over the small plateau they were situated on. "I thought you'd died."

"I might have." Naruto sat up with a pained grimace. "_Fuck_ that hurts… I'm definitely shelving that jutsu till I know how to control it."

"You flew!" Yancha exclaimed with awe. "It was awesome! Can we do that again?"

Just the thought of repeating the experience got another groan out of him. "Hell no. Don't you see the state I'm in? I need to figure out how to control the jutsu before I can use it."

Yancha pouted and offered him his water flask. "You look thirsty."

"Thanks." Naruto carefully raised the flask to his lips and swallowed a mouthful. "How long was I out?"

"Like a few hours."

Naruto looked upwards. It was night time. The stars littered the indigo sky and shined beautifully through the clouds. "For better or worse, I sure could get used to this sky." He looked to the young ape. "Hey, have you got any fruit left?"

Yancha shook his head. "Sorry."

"Well, might as well get started climbing then, huh?" Naruto reached for his bag. His head had started to clear up and the pain had subsided significantly.

"Hey, why are your eyes like that?"

"Huh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, then reached for his kodachi and unsheathed it. Blue, _slit_ eyes reflected on the blade. For a second he panicked, he feared something _terrible_ had happened when he was unconscious, but he quickly connected the dots. 'I must've hurt myself worse than I thought.'

Exactly how close had his brush been with death? It scared him just thinking about it.

"Hop on, Yancha." Naruto found his footing and began to climb slowly but surely. It was a good thing his new companion was so light. "We've only a got a few days to get up there."

"Why?" the monkey asked.

Naruto didn't answer at first. Why was he in a hurry? To save face? Was it to prove to the old man he wasn't just full of shit when he vowed to make it in a week? 'No, that's not it.' It was out of _necessity_. He didn't have the luxury of time. He had made a promise, one he intended to keep. "I've got people waiting for me back home."

"Family?"

He was about to say no, but he felt that wasn't the truth. He might have been orphaned shortly after coming into the world but he _did_ have a family, unconventional though it may be. Iruka, Ayame, the old man, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Kakashi – they were all family to him. It didn't matter whether they weren't related by blood or he'd come to known them fairly recently. They were his family. "Yeah. Family."

Naruto began to find his footing faster and more efficiently, driven not by the desire to meet some foolish deadline he had set for himself, but by desire to go home. It had only been a few days since he had left but he already longed to be back in Konoha. The only way that could work was if he completed his training here. Until then, he was better off being separated from them. He'd only attract dangers he couldn't protect them from the way he was. He needed to get stronger. _A lot stronger._

He vowed to never let himself be so powerless again. Not before Itachi, not before Orochimaru, not before anyone ever again.

-ooo-

(Days Later – Shimo no Kuni)

Frost Country was as cold as one could expect. It snowed perpetually and the temperature never rose above a single digit. The country was part of a buffer between Lightning Country and the other Great Five Shinobi villages. For a country with a rather harsh climate, it managed to stay self-efficient for the most part and modestly prosperous, largely due in part to their vast supply of natural resources ranging from crude oil to minerals and ores. Its ruler, the Daimyō of Shimo no Kuni, was known by many to be something of a hard ass. Old and prolific, the Daimyō had a reputation of being prideful and easily angered, a foul spirited man when crossed, and conniving in equal measure. He was sure to benefit in one way or another from allowing the summit take place in one of his royal estates, though exactly how far his involvement extended wasn't entirely clear. Shimo no Kuni had a standing shinobi force, but they were nothing more than glorified thugs that enforced the Daimyō's rule and rarely operated abroad.

Jiraiya made a note to look into exactly what the Daimyō stood to gain at a later date as he stifled a yawn. His cohort ploughed along, clad in thick winter clothing. He massaged his arms trying to warm up; he wasn't a man for the cold. How he longed for the warmth of Hi no Kuni. "Kinzen, did we really have to get up this early? The summit isn't until tomorrow!" He had to raise his voice over the screeching wind. His skin felt raw on his face and his teeth clattered uncontrollably.

"Trouble keeping up at your fragile old age?" Kinzen jibed childishly, laughing at the sage's expense.

Jiraiya bristled with mock indignation. "Hardly, old friend."

A member of their Ishi-nin cohort approached with another cloak in hand. "Please take this, Jiraiya-sama."

"Thanks." The Toad Sage was already wearing three layers of clothing but the cold still got to his bones. "Why the hell would Sōgen hold this meeting all the way out here? Why not on his own turf?"

"I told ya already, I don't know," Kinzen said annoyed. He had been rather difficult about it. Perhaps being babysat by Jiraiya didn't sit well with him even now. "And I don't want to hear you complain after you twisted my arm into letting you come."

"I didn't twist anything, I merely insisted," Jiraiya denied as he caught up and matched his companion's pace. "What's with you anyway is my presence making you feel inadequate in front of your men?"

Kinzen frowned, not at all amused. "You don't trust me, do you?" He spoke at a register at which only Jiraiya could hear him. "That may not be the case but that's how it feels," he added before he sage could interrupt. "I don't like this hand-holding, Jiraiya."

"I trust you with my life, Kinzen," Jiraiya said seriously. "But not with that of Konoha. I'm sorry, but you know how it is. You know how this works."

Kinzen muttered something, something self-deprecating perhaps, under his breath and shook his head. "I understand. We might be friends but we have different priorities when it comes down to it. Konoha will always come first for you and Ishi will always first for me, no matter what the cost…"

"For what it's worth, I do worry for your personal safety," Jiraiya said sincerely. They were like brothers after all. "Sōgen is a dangerous man. He's preferred to stick to his own turf for the most part, but if he's reaching out to the villages, whatever he's planning has to be big."

"What do you think he'll want from us?" Kinzen asked curiously.

"Manpower would be my first guess," Jiraiya hazarded an educated guess. "When it comes down to it that's what sets the Great Five apart from the smaller villages. That, and resources of course."

Kinzen rubbed his chin in thought. "Kusa has been stockpiling weapons for as long as Sōgen's been in charge."

"True, but he's never had enough hands to put swords in," Jiraiya pointed out. "Which is a good thing for all of us." What little balance existed between the Great Five and minor shinobi villages was fragile to say the least. If there ever was a power shift, and an abrupt one at that, the consequences would almost certainly be dire for all of them. Sōgen had bide his time since his ascension to leadership, carefully picking his battles and generally avoiding direct confrontation with any of the Great Five. It was in a shinobi's nature to avoid unnecessary conflict, and so was planning to take a stronger foe down when the opportunity presented itself. The odd feeling Jiraiya had been feeling all morning in his stomach got a touch worse. "How much longer?"

"We'll arrive at the royal estate soon, you'll have to disguise yourself before we get there," Kinzen replied. The Ishi-nin hesitated for a moment. "Look, Jiraiya, if you're having doubts then just don't come. Wait for us here."

Jiraiya responded with a stern look. "My mind is made up, Kinzen."

"Alright, old friend." Kinzen finally surrendered completely, nodding as he picked up the pace and joined his other guards at the front of their march.

For a second Jiraiya could've sworn he heard him muttering something again.

-ooo-

(The Next Day: Mount Kongōurin)

Naruto blurred into motion, dashing between ledges and footings, his new companion riding on his shoulder, and his eyes set in a permanent glare, in the middle of fighting off a tribe of mountain apes. "This is the last time I'm following your advice, brat!" he shouted as he dodged a melon sized rock aimed for his head. "Shortcut, my ass!"

Yancha blurted a string of apologies as they took off, though he wasn't entirely apologetic. "They usually sleep during the day, and I did tell you to be really, really, _really _quiet!"

"_You're_ the one that woke up them up!" Naruto outraged as the apes gained on them. He was starting to think he was cursed maybe, given how he had experienced next to no luck since he stepped foot in the valley. "Why are they even attacking anyway? I thought you guys were a clan!"

"They're not Sarutobi clan members. They belong to another clan. Their clan lost to the Sarutobi clan centuries ago when they tried to take over the mountain, so Enma-sama banished them!"

"Thanks for the history lesson!" Perhaps he would've been more interested in learning about the Sarutobi clan's history later down the road. When he wasn't getting chased by a pack of bloodthirsty orangutans perhaps. A sparkling light caught the corner of his eye. A split second later a spear lacerated his left bicep and drew line of blood. "Son of a bitch!" Naruto responded in kind and threw a hale of shuriken back. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

He didn't have time to look, but if their angry screeches were any indication, he had repaid at least on them. "Yancha, stop fucking laughing! This is _not _funny!" When did he become such a hard ass? It was a good question, but now wasn't the time to give it serious thought. "Suiton: Mizurappa!" He stopped on a ledge and spat a torrent of water for good measure.

Yancha pointed to the sky. "Look, we're almost there! See, there is a shortcut after all!"

"We didn't take your shortcut, you little psychopath!" Naruto grit his teeth as he continued to make his way up. He hadn't eaten for some time now, and his reckless new companion had a way of effortlessly pushing his buttons. Maybe his hunger and lack of sleep was making him paranoid, but he had a feeling the little ape wasn't an innocent child but rather a diabolical mastermind sent to thwart his progress.

Yancha was right though. They were getting closer to the clouds now, and the biting cold was far from pleasant, but he was getting there.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure – Forrest of Death)

Onyx eyes set in a hateful glare widened upon impact as Sasuke dropped on his back painfully and the air rushed from his lungs. Anko towered over him, an infuriating grin on her face. "Anyone tell you sound like a bitch when you take a beating?"

Sasuke jammed a kunai in her leg, which subsequently turned to mud along with the rest of the clone. "Bitch!"

"Potty mouth." Anko stepped from the surrounding forestry, sticking out her tongue, and a hand on her hip. "You look about tapped." She dug her hands in the pockets of her trench coat and turned to leave. "Well, this was fun. See you soon, Sasu-chan!"

Another projectile whizzed past her hair, taking a few strands of hair as he narrowly cocked her head. "Where do you think you're going?" He was breathing heavily and leant on his knees to stay up, but he wasn't done yet. "I'm not done with you yet."

Anko grinned in a feral manner. "You coming on to me, kid?"

"That's disgusting," the Uchiha spat. The humiliation he was feeling was far worse than the pain she had visited upon him. As much as he hated to think it, it was highly probably not even his kekkei genkai would make a difference. She was simply too fast, and too vicious, and she punished him without hesitation whenever he left an opening. "You're a fucking sociopath."

The sociopath in question raised an arm. "Sen'eijashu!" A knot of snakes hurled toward the young Uchiha.

Sasuke ignored the screaming pain in his thighs and jumped and threw a kunai. Anko caught the first between her index and middle fingers like child's play. He wasn't done however, and quickly equipped more projectiles whilst airborne and threw them in quick successions.

Anko continued to dodge with minimal effort without moving from her position until she noticed the odd trajectories her new _student_ was throwing them in. Surely she couldn't have actually inflicted brain damage to cause his aim to be so off? It was until a split second before it was too late that she noticed the odd vectors were set up for a ricochet attack pattern. Anko moved the kunai she caught early in front of her in the nick of time as she deflected a projectile aimed for the base of her of neck. 'He's managed to do it without his Sharingan… Not bad.'

Sasuke touched down and instantly collapsed to the ground under his own weight. He was absolutely spent but managed a satisfied smirk as the purple-haired snake charmer noticed the line of red on her cheek. She hadn't even noticed the second projectile.

"_Ohoho_, you are _so_ lucky you're about to pass," her voice echoed as he drifted into unconsciousness.

Anko stooped and grabbed him by the back of his shirt and unceremoniously dragged him off.

-ooo-

(Hi no Kuni - Kusa no Kuni Border – Root Base)

The room was dark, lit by just one industrial light. A man lied strapped to a chair, screaming and writhing with agony as another pulled a syringe from his arm and tossed it aside. The man in the chair wore Kusa-nin attire. The other wore a black cloak over shinobi gear and a badger ANBU mask.

"Talk," the torturer commanded in a monotone voice. "We know you were the on duty cryptanalysts who sent out the encrypted messages."

The Kusa-nin writhed some more, his face red and jaws clenched, saliva drooling down his chin as he tried to contain himself. "FUCK YOU!"

Badger turned his head questioningly. "The summit… where is it taking place and what is its purpose?"

"Ask your mother!" The Kusa-nin spat on his face.

Saliva dripped from Bandger's mask as the Root operative turned to the shadows with an outstretched hand.

Rei stepped from the darkness carrying metallic tray with more syringes. She wore a pure white mask and similar dark attire. The senior operative reached for another and administered another dosage.

The captive released a bloodcurdling scream as he trashed against his bindings. The serum ravaged his nervous system, resulting in blinding pain so intense, his bleeding gums paled in comparison as he tried to clench his jaws shut forcefully. Denying them results was the Kusa-nin's only means of resistance now.

As he continued to scream, Rei watch on unperturbed by the scene. She was more concerned about the time it was taking. Danzō had recently started to send her new mission orders out of the blue. What little time off she could scrape together, she spent working with Root. Perhaps he no longer trusted her? Did he know Itachi had removed his seal? She dismissed the notion for what seemed the hundredth time. If he knew than he wouldn't be sending her on missions. She would have been dead already. Unless it was some kind of test…

_"Your sister, is she alive?"_

Why had Uchiha Itachi undone her seal? The only way he would've known would be if he had been Root himself at one time, meaning he couldn't have lied when he said he had once been a Root operative.

Her mind started to drift. How long could she keep up living two lives? She wore a mask with Team 312. Not even the astute Nara knew what she was hiding. How would they react if they ever found out? How would _Naruto _react? She had tried not to think of him as much. Her new assignments were sufficient distractions at first, but lately she had been thinking of him more than usual. She knew she couldn't ever admit it, but she _missed _him. Of course, if she were to ever admit she could possibly be compromised when it came to him, she would most definitely be terminated.

The torturer withdrew and discarded the second syringe. "What is the purpose of the summit? What will be discussed and who will be attending?"

"Hnng…" The Kusa-nin shifted his tongue in his mouth.

"Don't bother, we took out your cyanide capsule," Badger said coldly as he backhanded his captive. "Talk."

"Go… fuck… yourself," the Kusa-nin whispered.

"Perhaps you could use some perspective," the torturer droned mechanically as he grabbed his victim by the mouth. "There is no question whether you will die here, alone. _You will die. _The only question that remains is how you die, and it is _you _who will determine that. Will you die a peaceful, dignified death, or will you subject yourself to pain beyond your wildest imagination before you draw your last breath?"

The Kusa-nin held his tongue, eyes filled with hatred.

The Root operative sighed. "Where is a mind reader when you need one? Another," he ordered with an outstretched hand.

Rei complied without hesitation, though not without adding, "The next shot _will_ kill him."

"You heard that?" Badger relayed to his prey. "Perhaps I'll administer smaller dosages over a longer period of time?"

"That would work," Rei agreed, though it was a lie. The Kusa-nin didn't have much left in him. His death wasn't going to pleasant even if they stopped now.

"No more…" the Kusa-nin moaned pitifully as he finally gave in. "Please… no more…"

The Root operatives looked at one another for the briefest of moments. "Then tell us what we wish know," Badger said coldly.

"The summit… the summit… it's a lie… a trap…"

"A trap for who?" the interrogator demanded.

"Just kill me…" The Kusa intelligence operative simply began to laugh. Slowly at first, and then reaching a sudden crescendo as his laughter turned manic. "KILL ME! PLEASE! JUST KILL ME!"

His laughter turned to screams as Badger jabbed one final syringe of toxic in his neck.

Rei remained unflinching behind her mask, calmly retrieving the discarded syringes before returning to the shadows.

-ooo-

(Shimo no Kuni)

The summit was on.

Village leaders from various minor villages sat around a large circular table. Representatives of the hidden villages of Stone, Waterfall, Rain, Star, Snow and Rain were amongst those present judging by the seating arrangements. There was also a seat assigned to the Hidden Sound, but whether or not it would be filled was up in the air. If there was anyone that could identify him though Jiraiya knew it would probably be Orochimaru.

It was for that reason he had gone through the trouble of and using some extensive semi-permanent body-modifying jutsu to change his body mass, scent and the colour of his eyes from grey to brown to match his dyed hair, which he had cut short. He even made sure to manipulate his larynx with chakra to produce a different a voice that more closely resembled that of his comrades. He was disguised as one of them, wearing the standard Ishi-nin attire and gear. It had been a while since he needed to disguise himself so carefully, but he wasn't going to take any risks, certainly not when Orochimaru was involved.

Jiraiya looked around the meeting room from his position, taking note of several potential exit strategies if worse came to worse.

Kinzen looked anxious in his seat, already on his second glass of water, his eyes wandering to the entrance every few seconds in anticipation.

'Calm down,' Jiraiya willed. Not only was it disappointing, it was incredibly worrisome Kinzen looked so beleaguered. He was starting to consider whether his presence was a mistake. From the look Kuroki was giving him that was probably the case. 'Too late to bow out now,' Jiraiya thought as they were joined by a grey old man in purple robes. 'The Hidden Star leader,' the sage identified. 'He was a mean old fart in his day.'

The self-proclaimed Sandaime Hoshikage was one of the few that once met Sarutobi Hiruzen in battle in his prime and lived to tell the tale. **(1)** "Ah, I see I am not the first, Akahoshi." **(2)**

Kinzen nodded politely. "Well met, Kitahoshi-dono."

"Well met, Kinzen-dono." The Hidden Star leader sat in assigned seat and dismissed his bodyguard.

Jiraiya glanced to the man identified as Akahoshi and reverted his gaze back to the table as more individuals poured into the room. The sage recognised the leader of Takigakure, Gurēkami, accompanied by his son Shibuki and right hand man Suien. **(3)**

Next were the shinobi of the Hidden Snow village. Rōga Nadare **(4)** had recently come to succeed the previous village leader. If Jiraiya recalled correctly, the Yukigakure-nin had once bested Kakashi and forced him to retreat on a mission long ago. He was accompanied by armour wearing bodyguards: a pink-haired kunoichi and a muscular, purple-haired shinobi. They took their place by the other bodyguards.

Jiraiya wondered if a Shimogakure representative would show up at any point, seeing as they were guarding the castle. The mutual animosity between Shimo and Yuki-nin was notorious. He didn't give it much as thought as the leaders of various others minor villages poured in.

Eventually only three seats remained unfilled: Grass, Rain and Sound. Jiraiya kept his eye on the door in anticipation. Maybe Orochimaru was going to be a no-show? 'Wouldn't that be nice?' He didn't know what to make of Rain's representative whomever that would be.

The room fell silent after pleasantries were exchanged. They weren't here to chitchat after all, and most of them were most assuredly rivals if not outright enemies once it was over.

Jiraiya felt a mixture of apprehension, anxiety and a pinch of exhilaration in the pit of his stomach, though he steeled himself as masterfully as only a shinobi of his calibre could. He was an uninvited guest in a room filled with some of the world's most dangerous and powerful individuals with limited exit strategies if things went sour. Undoubtedly, his presence would be seen and treated as an act of war if he was found out. 'Keep it together, Jiraiya. You're not a rookie at this, you haven't been for a long time.' The Toad Sage had become quite the adept infiltration artist over his lengthy career. This wasn't the first time he had found himself in a situation like this, and God willing it wouldn't be the last.

Heads turned to the entrance of the meeting room.

Sōgen no Shogun, the leader of Kusagakure entered the meeting room, unaccompanied, gliding like a ghost towards his seat on the far end of table from Kinzen. Jiraiya had never actually met or even seen the man in person. The Kusa leader was something of a recluse, and until now had never been cause for immediate worry. As distasteful as it, was the sage likened him to Kusa's very own Shimura Danzō.

Sōgen was a tall, imposing figure that matched the sage's height, with tan skin covered in scars. He had long white hair tied in a ponytail and a lengthy white goatee. He wore a fine green cloak over his shinobi attire. A thick scar covered his seemingly permanently closed left eye; his remaining eye was amber. "I thank you all for attending." For a man who was feared far and wide for his ferocious, cutthroat methods, Sōgen had an unusually soft spoken, vaguely _grandfatherly_ voice. "Forgive my tardiness, there were pressing matters that had to be resolved beforehand."

"You are not the only one, Sōgen-dono," Gurēkami of the Hidden Waterfall said. "It appears the representatives of Ame and Oto have yet to arrive."

"I just had words with the both of them and they will both join us shortly," Sōgen informed as he got comfortable in his seat.

As though on cue, a man wearing a straw hat and a long, black cloak with _red clouds_ strolled joined them. "Evening," he greeted with a baritone voice.

The Hidden Waterfall leader rose from his seat, a look of outrage on his face. "Akatsuki!" There were similar reactions of shock amongst the other leaders and their bodyguards, but none quite as vitriolic. "So you vermin were hiding in Ame then?"

Sōgen looked from Gurēkami to the other leaders, taking in their reactions appraisingly, before finally turning to the Akatsuki member and nodding. "Well there is no reason to forget our manners."

Jiraiya tensed. _This_ was what he came for. Where there was trouble, you could bet the farm Akatsuki had their finger in the pie.

The straw hat came off, revealing an Amegakure headband, a white hood, and dark sclera and green pupils looming over a facemask. "My name is Kakuzu. I am here as the Hidden Rain's leader representative and as well as the leader of Akatsuki."

A tumultuous reaction followed.

'You've got to be kidding me,' Jiraiya thought beneath a veil of calm. _Never_ in a million years could he have anticipated something like this. But could he have?

"I thank you for revealing yourself," Gurēkami roared as water condensed from thin air in his hands and spiralled to form into a sword. "Until now Takigakure has had to wage war against a faceless enemy. It will be easier to destroy you now we know where you sleep."

"Gentlemen, calm yourselves," the Shogun called patiently. "We are not here to declare war. This summit's purpose is so we might find peace amongst ourselves as we endeavour on an opportunity that shall benefit us all far more than revenge over petty grievances."

"You have my ear, Sōgen-dono," Kitahoshi of Hoshigakure croaked from his side of the table. "I am too old and my blood does not run quite as hot as others, but I have no time for games, as I am sure you know, being of the same era as I."

The Shogun nodded smiling. "I do indeed. If you would please be seated once more." The leader of the Hidden Grass looked expectantly to Gurēkami, who grudgingly sat down, though his eyes did not leave Kakuzu. "Thank you."

"Well that was entertaining."

Heads turned once again to the entrance as Orochimaru quite literally slithered into the room. "I believe now is the time you were referring to?"

"Not quite, but since you are already here…" If Sōgen wasn't pleased, he did an impeccable job of hiding it.

"More vermin?" Gurēkami said with disgust.

Orochimaru smirked. "Can't we let bygones be bygones, _old friend_? After all, we are all going to be such good friends, aren't we?" Only Orochimaru could stroll into a room full of people that wanted his head on a spike with supreme confidence and mock them while he was at it.

"I believe an explanation is in order, Sōgen-dono," the Hoshikage spoke up.

The Hidden Grass leader nodded. "There is. If we can all be seated and keep our calm and wits about us."

Orochimaru took his seat and crossed his arms, an amused grin on his serpentine features. "You may want to adjust that scowl, Gurēkami-kun, it's rather intimidating."

"I believe you gave me your word you would behave yourself," Sōgen rebuked the Sannin with a stern look. "Please do not disrupt us again." It wasn't a request. Far from it. Looks were deceiving, but no one in that room took the Hidden Grass leader's soft-spoken imago for his true self. They all knew what he was capable of.

Orochimaru bowed theatrically. "Of course, of course."

Jiraiya wondered how long Orochimaru could continue like this, how many more bridges he could burn, how many more allies he could betray? It was damn near _miraculous_ he had survived this long. There was something off about his presence. Something told him the serpent probably wouldn't have shown up were it not for his bespectacled toady.

As the room finally settled down, Sōgen cleared his throat. "My honourable guests, as I said before you have been invited to this summit to discuss a matter of great importance, an opportunity that could benefit us far more than any infighting over the table crumbs of the Great Five ever could. Kakuzu-dono came to me some time ago and revealed himself as the leader of Amegakure and Akatsuki, and the true purpose of his organisation. Naturally I was intrigued, and after hearing what he had to offer we came to form an alliance."

"Such information is typically not shared," Kitahoshi stroked his beard in thought. "I believe this is where the opportunity comes in."

"It does indeed," Sōgen nodded slowly. "At my request, Kakuzu-dono allowed me to call a summit so that we could ensure a greater success through beneficial partnership between all of us."

Kakuzu took his cue. "I created Akatsuki many years ago to oust Hanzō. During the civil war I vowed to have my vengeance against the Great Five whom exploited the war that tore my country apart. The day Hanzō fell was the day Akatsuki was reborn. Few outside of Ame knew of our existence. It was easy to escape scrutiny as I separated the Akatsuki from Ame and propped them up as an independent mercenary organisation and successfully usurped business from the Great Five all over the world and taking missions no one else would of fear of political and military ramifications."

"A sound strategy," Nadare Rōga of the Hidden Snow commented. "You gave us a quite a bit of trouble some years ago."

"Such is the nature of our business," Kakuzu replied evenly. "Until now Akatsuki has been a faceless, highly profitable and efficient organisation. Most noteworthy mercenary organisations are part of Akatsuki one way or another. Many don't even know who they really answer to."

Gurēkami grew impatient. "I take it there is a point to this tale of yours?"

"Akatsuki is cheaper and more efficient than any one village out there, but there are things that not even we can accomplish. I have come here to invite you to join our alliance and share our profits." Kakuzu paused to look across the table. "In exchange for your assistance to overthrow the Great Five."

The room fell silent.

Jiraiya clenched his fists. 'It doesn't get much more nefarious than that.' His eye fell on Kinzen. 'If he says no, he might be killed on the spot.'

Even Nadara burst out in laughter, teal pupil-less eyes wide with amusement. "You don't mess around, do you? Well, I'm listening."

"You can't be serious!" Gurēkami raised his voice. "Take on the Great Five? We'd be crushed!"

"Individually, most assuredly," Sōgen agreed calmly. "But together," he spread his arms theatrically. "Together we are a true force to be reckoned with."

"If you agree to join the Akatsuki Alliance, then you will become equal partners effective immediately, and you will enjoy both anonymity and spoils of war, including in bijū redistribution," Kakuzu added with a sinister chuckle. "But perhaps Takigakure does not see the need, given how close they have been to Konoha ever since the Shodai gave them the Nanabi."

_Close_ was nothing short of a gross exaggeration Jiraiya thought, though they probably all knew it as well. Taki had once been close to Konoha, _decades_ ago, but they had grown apart during the Nidaime's era over various disputes. The Nidaime was a great shinobi but not half the diplomat his brother was and thus did not hesitate to strong arm the Hidden Waterfall whenever they opposed him. By the time Hiruzen ascended to the position of Hokage, numerous bridges had been burned, and the Hidden Waterfall was one of them. Things had turned around since, the Sandaime had worked hard to accomplish that, but they were far from how they once were.

"I am no more fond of Konoha than you, but I am no fool," Gurēkami spat with distaste. "Nor I will deny the Nanbi's worth, but you speak of matters you know nothing of, outsider."

"Your jinchūriki is a diagnosed sociopath with no regard for your authority," Kakuzu stated holding his gaze. "She comes and goes whenever she pleases and will not hesitate to kill even you if you oppose her."

"How do you know this?" the village leader demanded.

Kakuzu sneered with no small measure of condescension. "Amongst many other assets, Akatsuki has a vast and _very _reliable network of spies and information gatherers. We know a great many things about all of your villages and your top shinobi." The Akatsuki leader rose from his seat. "Including your bodyguards." He averted his gaze from Gurēkami to Kinzen.

Kinzen tensed under his gaze.

"Is he here?" Kakuzu said much to Jiraiya's confusion. Who was the masked shinobi talked about? Surely…

He found his answer after a long, tense filled moment as Kinzen looked to his direction with a look pure regret. "I'm sorry, old friend."

Jiraiya felt his insides go cold.

"So he came…" the Sōgen spoke up softly, his voice quiet like the storm. "Excellent work, Kinzen-dono."

"Oh, well isn't _this_ interesting?" Orochimaru's laughter echoed. "We have a spy in our midst!"

"This is no laughing matter, Orochimaru," Kitahoshi rebuked severely. It appeared not even the calm and collected Hoshikage could stand him.

The serpent ignored him and threw his head back with laughter. "I wonder who it is."

Jiraiya's eyes remained wide with shock as he came to realise his mistake.

_It was all a trap. _

They had been counting on this happen on this, and they had managed to get Kinzen on their side. 'But why?' It didn't make any sense…

_"I understand. We might be friends but we have different priorities when it comes down to it. Konoha will always come first for you and Ishi will always first for me, no matter what the cost…"_

'Kinzen, you didn't…' Jiraiya looked to his friend, no, his _betrayer_. How could he have been so blind? There had been signs back in Ishi, and there had been signs on the way to Shimo, but he had dismissed them and blindly believed in their friendship. 'How could have I been _so stupid_?'

As the shock settled in Kuroki whispered, "I'm so sorry, Jiraiya-sama… We had no choice. I only found out last night."

The other bodyguards heard and quickly backed away. His reputation preceded him even now. It wouldn't save him now though, there was no way he would get out of there without a fight.

"Who is it, Kinzen?" Kakuzu asked as the village leaders, save Sōgen and Kitahoshi, rose of their seats. Their bodyguards joined them in anticipation.

"Oh, _I _know who it is," Orochimaru cackled gleefully as he licked his lips predatorily. "There is only one Konoha shinobi I know Kinzen calls old friend. We have some old unfinished business, _Jiraiya._"

Jiraiya stood alone now, a serious look on him as he undid his concealment jutsu. He glared at Orochimaru for a moment and turned his gaze to Sōgen and Kakuzu. Undoubtedly they had arranged the summit because they knew they could count on Konoha sending a spy. They could use it to get the support of the minor villages. They had had played him perfectly. Sōgen, Kakuzu, Akatsuki… they were all far more dangerous than he had imagined. They had to die. All of them. "I never thought you would betray me, Kinzen."

"It's nothing personal, old friend," Kinzen said with a stony expression.

"You call me friend even now?" Jiraiya laughed humourlessly. This wasn't going to be pretty. "You are no friend of mine," he said coldly. He would have killed him then and there if he had the chance.

"Jiraiya the Gallant," Sōgen addressed him. "I have heard a great deal about you. Your reputation truly precedes you. We hadn't expected you would show up."

"You have quite a bounty on your head," Kakuzu remarked confidently as he discarded his cloak and readied himself for combat.

Jiraiya smirked as he put up a brave face. "You're welcome to try and collect.

"Unfortunately, you're too valuable to collect," the Akatsuki member replied a s he stretched his arms.

Jiraiya looked for an exit. There were none that would let him get out of there without hassle. 'It looks like I'm going to have to fight my way out of here.'

"This one might be a challenge even for you, Kakuzu-dono," Sōgen interjected as he too finally rose from his chair. "I shall assist."

"I've always wanted to test my mettle against a legendary shinobi," Nadara joined as his guards stood behind him. "This should be _fun_."

Jiraiya looked to Orochimaru. "What about you, dear old teammate of mine? You going to join in too?"

"I only came here at the behest of my minion, under the guarantee of safe passage of course," his fellow Sannin said with a look to Sōgen and Kakuzu. "Normally, I'd welcome the opportunity to kill you, but this body is a loaner and not quite up to the challenge, I'm afraid."

"Then leave the ring and be gone, snake," Kakuzu sneered. **(5)**

"Oh, right, the _ring,_" Orochimaru said dramatically. "How could I forget? Forgive me, Kakuzu, but I'm going to have renege on my promise. You see, I didn't actually bring it with me."

"What?" the Akatsuki treasurer demanded, a dark look in his oddly coloured eyes. "Then rest assured you are next."

"_How scary_," Orochimaru mocked. "I look forward to killing you _personally_, Kakuzu. But until then, you're going to have to excuse me." The serpent proceeded to disjoint his jaw and wretch. A white snake emerged his throat and slithered away as the corpse of a Kusa-nin fell to the ground with a dull thud.

A usually large and razor sharp blade of grass impaled the rare reptile, killing it instantly. Sōgen wore a furious expression on his aged and scared face.

"Don't bother," Jiraiya said with a mocking grin on his face. "That's his Hebi no Shoji jutsu." He had run into the Snake Possession technique a handful times already. "It's a real bitch, isn't it?" Who would've thought? Orochimaru's antics actually tickled him even now.

"Tche! I'll deal with him later," Kakuzu promised the Kusa leader. "I told you not to trust him."

"A mistake on my part, I admit," Sōgen replied as he regained his composure.

Jiraiya looked to the table surrounded by shinobi. "I guess this is where it gets ugly."

There were about a dozen of them of the strongest shinobi amongst the minor shinobi villages and just one of him.

He would have to go all out.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

His entire body ached as he climbed, his muscles screaming as he forced his body to keep going. He was nearly there. He could see the edge of the cliff. He was _so _close. The cold didn't bother him, he simply didn't pay it any attention. In fact, his body felt hot, like it was on fire. The veins in his hands and arms were bulged, his hands felt raw, he had chipped a few nails and his clothes were torn, but he kept going.

He was nearly there.

Yancha climbed next to him, making it look easy as his big eyes remained plastered on him. It was as though the young ape was too scared to talk out of fear he would somehow jinx his progress.

"You can talk if you want," Naruto grunted as he continued. Much of the climb had taken place in silence, much due to the howling winds. He had welcomed it at first. The silence gave him a lot of time to think. Too much time, perhaps.

"What?" Yancha shouted over the wind. "Did you say something?"

Naruto shook his head, tired beyond belief. It was a small wonder he managed to keep going, but he doubted he had the energy to carry a conversation. The climb was all the focused on. "Forget it, Yan."

"Okay! Wait, did you just call me Yan?"

Naruto felt like both crying and banging his head against the rock. "Yanchazaru is long."

"I thought that's why you called me Yancha," the monkey said confused.

"That can get long too," Naruto said nearly a full minute later. He was too damn tired for small talk. "Just forget it."

The monkey bound over closer. "Yancha is six letters, and so is your name!"

"You're killing me, kid," Naruto cried pathetically. "Can't you just let it go?"

"I'm not a kid!" Yancha said indignantly. "I'm seven years old!"

Naruto felt what little patience he had left leave him and snapped. "That's exactly the age at which you'd normally be considered a kid!"

"Bullshit!"

"Watch your mouth." Naruto didn't know what possessed him to chastise his new companion, other than the fact he was extremely aware of how young he was.

"You can be really moody, you know that?" Yancha stuck his tongue at him and climbed ahead of him.

They continued to bicker for a while. Naruto knew he couldn't afford to waste his energy on something so foolish, but he didn't like giving Yancha the final word. It was childish, he knew, but maturity be damned, he wasn't going to be silenced by a monkey less than half his age.

Before he knew it he found himself closer to the top than he had had been so far. The temperature was picking up. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he looked to the monkey. "Distracting me like that, so I wouldn't be tired."

"Got'cha!" Yancha laughed in a shrieking fashion.

Naruto rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "I guess you did."

Minutes later his hands, his _raw_ and _bloody_ hands, _finally _gripped the last ridge. He pulled himself over the top of Mount Kongōurin, onto a flat plateau, breathing heavily, but happy enough he felt like crying as he rolled on to his back.

He was _exhausted _to the point of nausea, hungry, and dehydrated, but he had made it.

"Finally," he muttered under his breath as he closed his eyes.

-ooo-

(Shimo no Kuni)

The castle lay in ruins.

Black clouds of smoke billowed to the open sky. The ruins of the royal estate were swept by fire and oil. The carcass of a giant red toad lied a distance away, its stomach torn open by countless wounds, its giant shield cracked and sasumata discarded.

Where there was once a meeting hall there was now a crater than dug deep into the ground. A fierce battle had taken place, and the environment reflected it. Several dozen bodies were strewn over the castle turned battlefield, mainly castle guards, and a few shinobi of Ame, Kusa and Shimo.

Jiraiya lied on his back in the snow, blood flowing under him, and on the verge of unconsciousness.

Kakuzu ploughed through the snow, casually picking up his right arm and reattaching it as he neared the Toad Sage. He looked worse for wear, and none too pleased as he recalled his spectres of black. Only one had managed to survive. "He managed to destroy three of my puppets."

"It was fortunate we outnumbered him." The Shogun approached, seemingly unscathed though tired.

Kakuzu didn't acknowledge the statement, though it were true. "What are we going to do with him?" he asked instead. "If we kill him, Konoha will know it was us."

"We make him disappear," Sōgen said as he adjusted his kimono. The cold was getting to his old bones. "We can move him to Kusa and keep him there. I will put my best interrogators on him to uncover as much information as we can."

Kakuzu looked around the plain of white. "Takigakure fleed during the commotion. I'll make sure Gurēkami keeps his mouth shut."

"Then I will see to it Hoshi, Ishi and Yuki stay quiet for now." Sōgen released a deep sigh, seeming even older for a moment. "I must admit, Jiraiya the Gallant was a surprise. It would be poor form to insist on relocating and continuing the summit now."

"I leave that to you," Kakuzu agreed with a nod as he extended his hand and reached for his cloak several dozen feet away and plucked it from the burning oil. "As soon as I get Takigakure in line, I'll advise Pain to let me deal with Orochimaru."

"And what of Kinzen?" the Kusa leader inquired as they both observed Kinzen from a distance. The Ishi leader stared at Jiraiya with a morose look, his immense guilt visible even from a distance.

"It's too late for him to back out now," Kakuzu said confidently. "He is no fool. Even if he turned on us now, Konoha would still crush him for his betrayal. He's ours now." The Akatsuki treasurer put on the tattered remains of his cloak. "If necessary, promise him the Yonbi or Gobi for his cooperation."

…

Jiraiya fought to stay conscious, though he knew it was futile. He had been overwhelmed despite his best efforts and his wounds were severe.

He had failed.

"Forgive me, Tsunade… Naruto…" Jiraiya whispered as he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

So this is where it gets real.

I've spent a lot of time planning out this story, and while it has taken me a while to get here, I'm excited for future chapters. The training arc ends and the post timeskip plot is finally beginning to set itself up. I doubt I'll ever do another training arc again, though it was useful to keep Naruto out of the picture whilst I gave more depth to other characters. I know some of you might be wondering why I'm giving Itachi so much attention. The reason is that I want to develop him a bit more in my story, give him more background and depth so you can understand his actions down the road.

Tsunade had a bit this chapter. I felt like fleshing her out a bit more as far being Hokage goes. She has always been one of my favourite characters and I kind of feel like building a legacy for her in this fic, so I hope you enjoy where I'm taking this. I also really like Anko. She's a bad ass, and it's really a shame she never got as much screen time in cannon. My depiction of her isn't perfect but I hope it's entertaining to read.

Sōgen is an OC of mine I've planned to use for a while, both in NPR and other stories. There's more to him than meets the eye and I hope you'll enjoy his character, even if he's a bit of an unpleasant fellow. He might look like a Danzō copy, but it's not quite like that. His alliance with Akatsuki and their nefarious plot will play a major part in this story so here's hoping I can write him convincingly. By the way, in case anyone brings it up in a review, _there is a reason Jiraiya wasn't able to escape through Reverse Summoning or use Sage Mode._

Anyway, that's it for 2013. I hope you guys had a terrific year and I wish you well in 2014.

**Notes**

**(1)** The Sandaime Hoshikage from episode 180 in the original Naruto anime during a filler arc. I renamed him for convenience since he wasn't named in the anime. His made up name means "North Star." I don't know why he was referred to as Hoshikage in the anime, he just was. Consider it a moniker.

**(2)** Akahoshi was introduced in episode 178 in the same filler arc.

**(3)** These characters were introduced in the Protect the Waterfall Village OVA of the original anime. Shibuki's dad wasn't given a name so I name him Gurēkami, which means "grey hair" in accordance with his appearance.

**(4)** The badass villain from the first Naruto movie.

**(5)** Orochimaru took his ring with him when he left Akatsuki. He still has the kū ring in his possession.


	22. Chapter 22: The Missing Sannin

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 20-01-14_

**_Yo! There's a good a chance you might have missed the previous update over New Year's so if you haven't read it now you know. Please leave a review on it since reactions are mixed and that might influence what comes next. Anyway things are picking up story-wise so enjoy and don't forget to review! The Uzumaki Descendant is also a thing._**

**_Unedited._**

**ARC6: The Missing Sannin**

* * *

><p>CH22: The Missing Sannin<p>

* * *

><p>(Approximately One Year Later)<p>

"He'll be here in a matter of weeks, Tsunade-sama."

"I know."

"He'll be angry."

"I know."

"He's going to want answers… and revenge."

"_I know._"

"What are you going to do?"

Tsunade massaged her temples as she felt a migraine building up. "That I don't know."

Nearly a year had gone by. Naruto would be returning soon, and she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from him then.

"He's going to hate my guts when he finds out."

"At least for some time." Though Shizune idolised the Godaime, she knew Tsunade wouldn't appreciate her sugarcoating the issue. "But you did the right thing, Tsunade-sama. The time wasn't right for Naruto-kun to return. He would have done something reckless and maybe even gotten himself killed in the process."

"He still might," Tsunade sighed. "I should be happy the kid is coming back but honestly I wish he would just stay there for a few more years."

Shizune understood where her teacher was coming from perfectly. "Hiruzen-sama did say he had improved a lot. He may be able to protect himself now."

"He'll still be young, and inexperienced, and stupid," Tsunade moaned regretfully. "That's not fair," she then immediately acknowledged.

"No, it's not," Shizune agreed, hugging her clipboard. "You'll have to keep an close eye on him when he gets back."

Tsunade rested her head and outstretched arms over her desk. "I know, Shizune."

"It can't just be anyone," the assistant added thoughtfully. "Do you think Kakashi-san will agree to it?"

"It'll be too obvious if it's just him," Tsunade said as she sat upright.

Shizune hesitated for a moment. "How about Uchiha Sasuke?" she suggested carefully. It was common knowledge the two rivals had a rather heated spar over a year ago, during which they had tried to kill one another with lethal ninjutsu.

"Maybe…" Tsunade considered the suggestion for a moment. "Get them in my office. Actually, get Sakura too."

At that moment the door opened and Sakura walked in holding a clipboard of her own, as though she had been summoned by her teacher's words. "Tsunade-sama, I have the new supply orders from the hospital as you requested." She looked quite different, taller and with more feminine features. She wore simple field medic attire.

"Just get me the other two," the Godaime said to Shizune before turning to her younger student. "Sakura, I'm going to need you to do something for me."

"Of course," Sakura agreed immediately.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Hiruzen sat cross-legged and enjoyed a smoke as he observed the fight. They had moved to a wide plateau on the mountain where the Sarutobi clan did much of their sparring. The Sandaime had aged significantly over the past year, his hair now completely white and long, due in part to Tsunade's treatment. He had lost all of his excess weight and looked to be in great shape, wearing a loose fitting tunic and a robe over his shoulders as he watched. "That's it, Enma. Go for his left, he's still favouring it after you broke his arm last time."

Naruto was in the middle of sparring against the Monkey King and seemed to be holding his own. "Whose side are you on, old man?"

Over the past year he had grown nearly a foot. He had turned fifteen years old a few weeks ago. His gravity defying hair had grown to shoulder length, and his face looked considerably more mature now. Naruto wore a white short-sleeved shirt under a simple blue, sleeveless tunic with the Sarutobi clan insignia that showed off much of his matured physique. He hadn't grown more muscular per se, but rather grown leaner with a much more balanced build. He was both light on his feet and had considerable body strength to go with it. He wouldn't have been able to keep up with Enma if he didn't.

**"You should be more concerned with focusing on your opponent!" **Enma delivered a crushing palm strike to his chest.

Naruto went flying but managed to flip midair and land on his bare feet. "_Fuck_, that hurt!"

"Language," Hiruzen and Enma said simultaneously.

Naruto ignored the aching in chest that was sure to be a bruise and charged head on. "Either you're getting old or I'm getting faster, either way you're on the slow side today, Enma!"

The Monkey King howled with laughter as they exchanged blows at high speed. **"Humility certainly isn't your strong suit, is it?"**

"Nope!"

Hiruzen watched them continue to spar with a faint smile. 'He did it. He completed his training in just under a year.' The Sandaime could only wonder how much farther he could go. At times it was as though he were training with the Shodai. They were both so lively, so full with potential. "You should be able to give Kakashi a considerable run for his money now, Naruto-kun."

Naruto froze, eyes wide with shock. "Really? That's awesome- ouf!" Enma punished his lack on concentration with a punch to the face.

**"Focus on your opponent at all times! We've been over this."**

Naruto picked himself of the ground with a pained groan. "That was dirty, old man. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Hmm?" The Sandaime feigned not to hear him and chewed on his pipe instead.

"I fucking knew it!"

Enma dropped his elbow in the youth's stomach. **"Language!"**

"Ack! Can't bre..athe!""

For a moment the Monkey King relented out of concern, only to then realise he had been tricked as Naruto wrapped his legs around his neck and pulled his arm in an attempt to force Enma to submit.

**"Trickster!"**

"There's no such thing as a clean fight!"

'I have done the best I could, Tsunade,' Hiruzen thought as the two wrestled it out in the dirt. 'He's your problem now.' The Sandaime stood up dusting himself off, his robe falling of his shoulders. "Enma!" the Sandaime called as he joined the fray.

**"Alright, old friend!" **The Monkey King jumped into the air and transformed into an adamantine staff as the Sandaime caught him.

Naruto grinned enthusiastically. "Alright, gramps, try not to break a hip or something."

"You're going to pay for that one," Hiruzen said dryly as he twirled the staff dexterously.

-ooo-

(Amegakure)

The highest tower of Amegakure was an immense building with four humanoid faces facing the cardinal directions. The people called it the _Kami no Tō_, where they knew their godly protector resided, high in the heavens, amongst the clouds that rained perpetually. Pain sat on the outstretched tongue of the humanoid facing north.

"Don't look so displeased, Konan."

Ame's Angel put little effort in hiding her distaste. "I do not understand the need for secrecy and deceit, not like this."

"How many times must I explain it to you?" Pain looked to her, his voice as devoid of emotion as his face. "Secrecy and deceit are a necessity."

"You are a _god_, Nagato." Konan said the words with absolute confidence. "You do _not_ need to stoop to the level of _that man _and manipulate from the shadows. It is beneath you."

"You know better than to address me by that name when we are expecting company, Konan." Pain moved inside the tower through a canopy as heavy downpour fell.

The paper goddess hung her head. "I'm sorry."

"Forget it. Raise your head, Konan, he is here." The Akatsuki leader looked to the door as it opened. "Kakuzu."

Kakuzu entered the room, nodding respectfully. "Konan," the former Takigakure shinobi acknowledged.

"Kakuzu," she returned coolly.

"Takigakure?" Pain queried sat at the head of the table in the room.

"Subservient, for now. I may have to incite a coup and replace Gurēkami with his number two. Suiben seems open to assuming control." Kakuzu drew a chair to his one seat away from his immediate left as Konan sat at his right.

"Use your best judgment," Pain permitted.

Kakuzu nodded. "Will Madara be joining us?"

"No," Konan spoke up before he could.

The god of pain made note to talk to her soon. "Madara is off doing his clandestine, nefarious business, though what that is remains unknown to me."

"So long as he does not meddle with our affairs let him stay far away," Konan said.

Kakuzu chuckled in his baritone voice. "You despise him still, far more than I. What has he done to earn your ire?"

"None of your business."

"That's enough, Konan," Pain rebuked sternly. He preferred it when she was her usual, quiet self. "Where is Hidan now?"

"I left him to oversee things in Takigakure for now," Kakuzu answered promptly, adding: "I reminded him any misdeeds would displease you greatly. He will not behave too erratically."

"Where did Sasori find that beast of a man, I wonder."

"He has his uses." Pain looked to Kakuzu. "One of them being that Kakuzu can't kill him."

"Unfortunately," Kakuzu and Konan said in unison, though it was not their intent, and they ignored it happened.

"What of the hunt for Orochimaru? I haven't heard from Sasori in a while," Pain swiftly moved on. The snake Sannin had proved to be quite elusive since he had left Akatsuki and taken his ring with him to spite them. "We must retrieve the kū ring."

Kakuzu considered his next words carefully. "Sōgen has tried to retrieve information from Jiraiya the Gallant but to no success," he shared a moment later. "His mental barriers are quite formidable. We were fortunate to have his number when we took him down."

"Just now you paused," Pain said almost accusingly. "Why?"

"You know they are torturing him still?" Kakuzu queried apprehensively. "Given your past ties, I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Pain cut him off, his displeasure both evident in his voice and godly eyes. "We cut our ties with Jiraiya a lifetime ago. He no longer means anything to us. Isn't that right, Konan?"

She nodded with hesitation. "It is."

Pain averted his gaze to Kakuzu. "Make sure Sōgen understands that my patience is wearing thin."

"I don't understand the need for that man's involvement," Konan voiced with a look to Pain. "You could retrieve whatever information Jiraiya has with a simple touch if you would just-"

"_Quiet, _Konan."

The Angel of Ame fell silent without another word.

Pain set his Rinnegan eyes on Kakuzu. "_Make him understand_."

"As you wish," Kakuzu nodded once more. "I will send word as soon as I leave."

"Good," Pain said. "Now tell me what the Fence Sitter has been up to."

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Naruto followed Hiruzen and Enma up the mountain path towards the Sarutobi stronghold atop the mountain. The stronghold was essentially a small village surrounded by lush, tropical jungle and bodies of water all over. It was a truly unique ecosystem he doubted he could find anywhere else in the world. The Sarutobi lived in modest wooden houses and slept in hammocks and in trees. The weather was always the right temperature: comfortably breezy during the day, delightfully warm in the evening and cool at night. It was like paradise living there.

On the way back they greeted several Sarutobi clansmen, humans and apes alike. Naruto had gotten to know most of them to an extent in his time living with them. The apes were more or less the exact same as the humans. There were even a few grannies that occasionally sent him on errands. He even had to look after the kids every now then, usually on days he was made to relax after arduous training the day before.

**"You return to Konoha soon," **Enma said as they walked past a group of young Sarutobi humans and their monkey counterparts. **"How do you feel?"**

Naruto smiled a little, he hadn't had the time to think about it. "I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, but I'm not sure if I'm ready."

**"You're welcome to stay for as long as you'd like."**

"I appreciate that, Enma, but I made a promise." His smile turned into a grin just thinking about it. "Do you think I'm ready, gramps?"

Hiruzen laughed. "That is not a question for me to answer."

"I figured you'd say that." He had gotten to know Hiruzen a lot better over the past year. As a child he had put him on an obscenely high pedestal, believing there wasn't anyone stronger or wiser than his _jichan_, who he perceived to be infallible and would live forever.

Naruto knew better now.

He knew Hiruzen as more than a surrogate grandfather or as the Sandaime Hokage; he knew him as a man of great responsibilities and experience, and as man who not only had many accomplishments but also many regrets. Hiruzen had shared many things with him, and taught more than just ninjutsu. He taught him discipline, what it meant to be a leader, decision-making and so much more. At first it seemed as though every day he learned something life changing, but after a while Naruto realised that Hiruzen was simply sharing his own experience, lessons he had learned from mistakes he had made a long time ago hoping he would learn from them.

"You have undoubtedly improved," the Sandaime acknowledged after a while. "What I said earlier, I meant it. If you simply continue to hone your skills and sharpen them with experience you will surpass me in no time."

Naruto looked at him through squinted eyes. "You're just saying that, aren't you?" There was simply no way he believed a word he said. It sounded too good to be true, and amongst many other things he had learned Hiruzen wasn't a saint. The man was a shinobi through and through, and would lie, cheat, and play dirty just to mess with him. "But seriously though, really?"

Much to his chagrin Hiruzen and Enma started laughing and continued on ahead.

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni – Kusagakure Black Site 341)

In the shinobi world the value of intelligence cannot be overstated. It the highest valued currency for a shinobi trades in death and he is blind without it to guide his blade.

Regardless of time, location or the people involved, death always follows. One way or another, as direct or indirect consequence, death shall occur and lives will be lost. It is for that reason shinobi villages put great time, care and precision in their information networks as they methodically gather and meticulously analyse intelligence from across the world.

Kusagakure took exceptional care in gathering information. Little was known of the Shogun as far as his personal life went, only that he was extremely cautious, a recluse who at times hadn't been seen in public for _years _after his meteoric rise during the civil war. Sōgen made it his top priority Kusa knew everything both inside and outside the country. Two of the three great wars had been fought on Kusa soil before the civil war, and both could have been prevented if they had all the facts, if they knew what their enemies were thinking, what they were planning. Sōgen would never allow war to befall his beloved country ever again, no matter what the cost.

The Hidden Grass leader was known for his cutthroat methods with reason. No line was too blurry to be crossed and no price was too high so long as Kusa was safe.

With that thought in mind Sōgen had left Kusagakure to visit one of many black sites near the Ame no Kuni border. The black site was an underground base in the countryside, far removed from prying eyes. The Shogun travelled without envoy, both out of lack of trust and necessity. He wasted no time to enter the hidden base. Normally there were five shinobi assigned to every black site: four guards and one interrogator, who was usually the site supervisor.

_This_ particular base had twelve personnel and an ANBU squad stationed nearby to provide back up.

Torches flickered as the heavy doors opened. There was no electricity used in this particular black site to avoid suspicion.

The site supervisor waited by the entrance and bowed respectfully. "Sōgen-sama."

"Kei."

"How is your houseguest?" the Hidden Grass leader wasted no time. "Bring me to him."

"This way, sir."

Sōgen followed the supervisor down a labyrinth with many turns and eventually wound up before a heavy steel door covered with fūinjutsu markings. A minute later they were in an observation room with one-way mirrors connected to the interrogation room. There were two men in the room: one dressed in the same black attire as the interrogator, and the other was their houseguest.

"I was in the middle of interrogation when you entered, sir. Habara is covering for me"

"Have you made any progress?" Sōgen queried as he looked to the interrogation room, his eyes on the houseguest.

Jiraiya the Gallant had seen better days – _much _better days. He hung half collapsed to the ground by the arms, his bare chest covered in scars and burn marks. He had lost a tremendous amount of weight and appeared malnourished and dehydrated. His eyes were vacant and devoid of any life, it was as though he simply was not there, as though he could not even feel the whiplashes his interrogator was subjecting him to.

A large fūin covered the floor beneath his feet, the walls and ceiling – every inch surface was covered in sealing arrays.

"No, sir," Kei reported dutifully. "We have been unable to break him. As I wrote in my most recent report the subject appears to be able to perfectly shut out pain. Mind probes are equally ineffective due to pre-setup barriers. They are quite formidable, sir, unlike anything I have ever seen."

"You say physical punishment does not affect him?" Sōgen spared the supervisor a glance before turning back to the one-way mirror. "Then why is your junior interrogator whipping him?"

Kei swallowed, hesitating. "Revenge, sir."

"Revenge?"

"Like I said, the subject's mental barriers are truly formidable. Habara tried to probe his mind a week ago and was nearly taken over. We found him trying to hang himself."

"I should like to speak to your houseguest." Sōgen glided toward the door to the interrogation room and entered.

The Shogun's presence immediately alarmed Habara.

"Sōgen-sama!" the junior interrogator bowed low. "I did not know you were coming."

Sōgen ignored him and looked to Jiraiya, whose eyes became focused upon seeing him. "It's been a long time, Jiraiya-dono."

Jiraiya spat blood on the floor.

"Show some respect, filth!" Habara whipped the Sannin once to seemingly no affect. "You are in the presence of-"

"Silence."

Jiraiya's mouth twitched into something resembling a smile. He was missing a few teeth along with some fingernails and patches of hair. "Finally worked up the courage to see me, did you?" His voice sounded different; dry and raspy.

Sōgen looked to Habara. "Get him some water."

"Yes, sir!" Habara left the room in a hurry.

The Kusa leader looked to Kei with a look that only hinted at his disapproval before focusing on the sage. "I don't catch your meaning."

Jiraiya didn't elaborate and the room fell into silence until Habara returned.

"Slowly," Kei instructed as the junior interrogator forced a bottle in Jiraiya's mouth and tipped it.

Jiraiya didn't think to resist and drank the entire bottle, greedily gulping giant mouthfuls before his sadistic tormentor could deny him.

"I hear you've made things quite difficult," Sōgen said conversationally. "Mental barriers and such. Must be quite intricate fūinjutsu."

"You would know."

Sōgen decided to humour him. "Would I now?"

"This was obviously your hand," Jiraiya spoke slowly but clearly, a touch of knowing amusement in his voice. "Although certainly not of your own creation."

"Oh? Do tell," Sōgen invited calmly as Kei fetched him a chair.

Jiraiya looked around the interrogation room. "I've been here for what, a year now? I've been examining these seals for a long time but I couldn't even come close to understanding them." He laughed a little strangely enough. "That's when it hit me. I've seen similar designs like this before."

"I doubt that very much," Sōgen replied as he sat down.

Jiraiya smiled knowingly at him. "No… I've seen these sealing arrays before."

_The castle exploded, scattering chunks of debris in the air. He blurred into motion, successfully evading four masked spectres. They were out in the open now. He wouldn't have to fight alone. He bit his thumb and performed the necessary hand seals before placing his bleeding hand on the snowy surface. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" The moment he pushed is chakra through his fingertips and a seal appeared followed by the arrival of his familiar, he felt _it. _The summoning seal suddenly changed, covered in a series of spirals, and remained etched on the cold earth._

"These fūinjutsu aren't of your design, and the seal you used to block my summoning wasn't either, was it?" His host's silence confirmed his suspicions and his smile grew wider. "You stole these seals from the Uzumaki clan."

Habara backhanded the sage. "Know your place!"

Blood bubbled in the corners of his mouth as Jiraiya started to laugh. "You look uneasy, Sōgen. What, you think we didn't know the surviving Uzumaki had scattered after the fall of Uzu no Kuni? Oh, we knew," Jiraiya spat some more blood. "So, what did you do with the ones in Kusa, did you butcher them before or after you stole their jutsu?"

For just a second it appeared as though Sōgen's one visible eye narrowed, but the anger disappeared just as quickly as it appeared and the village leader changed the subjected. "I have some questions for you that I'd like you to answer truthfully."

"And I'd like a cold one and a woman right about now but you don't hear me complaining."

"Perhaps we can work out a compromise," Sōgen proposed much the shock of his subordinates. "I need to track down your former associate. Orochimaru has proven to be quite elusive."

"Good luck with that." Jiraiya openly laughed athim. He briefly wondered if the snake had made good on his threat to kill Kakuzu yet. A man could dream.

"I'd like your help seeing as you know Orochimaru better than anyone."

"Which is why I know you'll never find him, and even if I did know where to find the slimy fuck I sure as fuck wouldn't tell you." Jiraiya brushed the lengthy hair out of his face with what little movement he had available to him. "You can keep looking but you'll never find him before it's too late."

"Perhaps not," Sōgen admitted airily. "But I _will_ find your protégé. Uzumaki Naruto is his name I believe. Perhaps I'll put my talent in _butchering Uzumaki_ to good use?"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes in a hateful glare for a moment, and then suddenly burst out in genuine, hearty laughter. "That was good. I needed that."

"You won't be so amused when I deliver him to you after the Akatsuki have ripped the Kyūbi from him," the Hidden Grass leader said in a quiet, icy tone. "Perhaps he'll still be alive. The Uzumaki have such incredible vitality after all. What do you think, Jiraiya-dono, could he withstand the pain you went through?"

Jiraiya finished chuckling, thoroughly pleased he was able to get under Sõgen's skin. "In his sleep," he said sounding as smug and confident as possible. "The kid has twice my talent. If you pissants couldn't make me talk after a year then you're not going to get a peep out of him. But do me a favour, Sōgen, and _try _to go after him. I'd prefer to rip your throat out myself but I wouldn't be opposed to my _protégé_ doing it for me."

"We shall see…" Sōgen said as he rose from chair and nodded towards Habara.

"And by the way, I appreciate you letting me know you're not just some peon and actually know of Akatsuki's true objective," Jiraiya said to his back, an actual _grin _of his face. "I'd love to know how the other villages would feel about you luring them into a sham alliance under false promises to wage a war against the Great Five. How soon do you think it would take for them to form an alliance or pact of their own and muster an army to destroy you? I'm guessing about a week – ack!"

Habara went into a mad frenzy as he whipped the sage relentlessly. _Nobody _talked to the Shogun that way. Offending Kusa's guardian was unforgivable.

Sōgen watched on coldly as his subordinate beat the Sannin, too angry to even utter a word. After thirty or lashes he intervened with a simple, calming word. "Enough."

Jiraiya groaned, his body gone limp and trembling. Blood gushed from the side of his head, chest and back. "Enough… please…"

"Tell me where I can find Orochimaru and the pain shall stop."

Jiraiya mumbled something inaudible. "You..re… go.. t… fer…"

"Speak up!" Habara shouted in his ear.

He mumbled again even quieter.

"You've had worse than this!" Habara shouted as he leant in. "I said speak – UEAGH!"

Jiraiya clenched his jaws on the screaming man's neck, clamping down with all his strength as his teeth tore through fat and tendon and ripped into arteries. He tasted the coppery taste of blood gushing into his mouth at his shook his head like a wild animal before releasing him. Blood covered most of his face, neck and torso as he _smiled _at his captors. "I said _you're going to suffer before you die._"

Kei was on him a moment later, raining blows on him as Habara lied dead on the floor, blood flowing from under him, his eyes still wide in terror.

Sōgen repressed an angry snarled as he left.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure – Nara Clan Compound)

Shikamaru lied stretched out lazily over the deck in the backyard wearing his comfortable off duty clothes as he gazed at the clouds yawning. True to his bones as Nara he enjoyed spending his days off quietly, playing shōgi and watching the clouds.

"Shikamaru!" his mother called.

He groaned figuring he was about to get scolded again for lazing around. "What?" he called back.

"Don't shout back! I raised you better than that! Get in here!"

"_You're the one that's shouting._" Shikamaru picked himself off the hardwood with one last longing look to his comfy spot before heading inside. "What is it?"

Nara Yoshino stared him down. "Don't scowl at your mother."

"Sorry."

"Ino-chan is at the door," his mother informed.

"You didn't invite her in?"

"Of course I did. She said she's just dropping by on her way to work."

Shikamaru yawned, scratching the back of his head. "OK, thanks."

"Say when are you going to settle down? That girl you're currently dating, Shiho-chan, was it? She doesn't seem so eager to settle down soon. Your father and I have been talking, perhaps it's best you-"

"Mother, please, not now." Shikamaru ignored her as he walked down the hall to the door where he found an amused Ino waiting.

_"Don't come crying to me if Chōji-kun ends up marrying her!"_

"Ignore her," Shikamaru said with an annoyed frown. "She's just getting restless with her clock ticking."

Ino looked a little less amused now but excited nonetheless. "I've got good news, Shika."

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked yawning. "Don't tell me something I don't want is on sale."

"You think I'd stop by just for that?" Ino said with false indignation. "I heard from Sakura your boyfriend is coming back to town soon."

_"WHAT?"_

"It's nothing!" Shikamaru shouted over his shoulder, before turning to Ino scowling. "That's not funny."

"It is to me," Ino laughed at his expense. "Anyway, I thought you'd want to know since you guys were like best friends before he left."

"Right, thanks," he said dryly, looking over his shoulder once he heard soft sobbing noises. "Great, she's crying. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome," Ino sang cheerfully as she left. "Keep your calendar open, we'll throw a party when he gets back!"

Shikamaru shook his head as he closed the door and shouted, "She was just joking, ma!"

The lazy genius made a note to get back Ino, though he had to admit he was somewhat glad she had dropped by.

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Naruto emerged barefooted from the house wearing a fresh tunic, his hair still wet from the shower and feeling content as he walked across the grass to join Hiruzen. The cool evening breeze felt great on his skin. He found Hiruzen blowing smoke rings under the evening sun.

"I have something to tell to you," the old man said with his back still turned to him.

"And what's that?" he asked sitting down next to him.

Hiruzen lowered his pipe and exhaled the remaining smoke through his nostrils. He gave the blond a long look over and sighed. "Jiraiya went missing shortly after you left Konoha."

Naruto sat stunned for a moment. "What?"

"There was a summit between a number of minor shinobi villages," Hiruzen carried on without halt. "He had his suspicions the Akatsuki and Orochimaru would both be present so he infiltrated the meeting to gather information."

"What are you saying?" Naruto felt his heart beating faster, and loud enough the thumping rung in his ears. "If he went missing during the summit with Akatsuki and Orochimaru involved then… _Is he dead?_"

The thought was simply horrifying.

"We simply do not know yet," Hiruzen said simply. "Tsunade has tried to get to the bottom of it but thus far we've been getting the silent treatment. I don't know if you remember your history lessons but Ishigakure used to be a particularly close ally of ours. Now they, too, have fallen silent."

Naruto was still trying to wrap his head around the information he had just received. It simply didn't make any sense. How could Jiraiya have been defeated? The more he thought about it the more unlikely it sounded but just as he was about to argue with the old man he realised that he had once thought that of Hiruzen who was far from invincible. If the God of Shinobi were fallible, then surely Jiraiya was too?

"You're saying Ishigakure was in on it?"

"We don't know but it is very likely given their refusal to cooperate with us," Hiruzen answered truthfully. "I know it must be hard to comprehend but you need to understand we are currently in a very tense political climate."

"I don't give a shit about the climate, old man!" he burst out rising to his feet. He began to pace from one end to the other trying to make sense of it. "Jiraiya's been gone for a year and you kept it from me? He's my godfather! You had no right to keep this from me!"

Hiruzen remained unimpressed with his outburst. "You flatter yourself if you think you could have made a difference, Naruto-kun. The summit was hosted by the leader of Kusagakure and attended by some of the world's most dangerous and formidable shinobi. There was nothing you could have done thus I saw no reason to inform you."

"He could be dead for are well know!"

"Yes," Hiruzen acknowledged flatly. "He could be."

Naruto covered his face with hands and groaned. He felt angry, upset, and sick with worry, and yet at the same time he couldn't fault Hiruzen's logic. There was a world of difference between the person he was now and the person he was then.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"That's quite alright." Hiruzen chewed on his pipe. "For now there is no reason to think Jiraiya is dead. The toads have contacted us and have reported no change in their contract."

"So he's alive!" Naruto said relieved. "Right? If his name is still on the contract then he has to be."

Hiruzen stroked his beard. "There is no way of verifying that for now, Naruto-kun, but it is good to stay optimistic. For now Jiraiya is unofficially considered to be missing in action."

"What is Tsunade doing to find him?" he asked.

"There's not much she can do at the moment," Hiruzened sighed with a shake of his head. "Tsunade and I have kept frequent correspondence over the past year and the information she shared with me is troubling."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he sat opposite the older shinobi. "Are you talking about the other villages?"

Hiruzen nodded. "The past three great wars started out much the same. Lack of communication under mounting political pressure giving rise to various factions grouping together for any numbers of reasons or pretences… I can feel it in my bones. _War _is coming."

"You think it's time I go home," Naruto realised the meaning behind his words. "Konoha needs to look strong. They need their jinchūriki back in the village to bolster their position." The old man had taught him a great deal of history and politics. He understood his role as Konoha's jinchūriki now more than ever. He wasn't just the jailor to the most powerful bijū. He was a considerable military asset. "The situation has to be worse than I thought if Tsunade's name alone can't shake their boots."

"Maybe once it would have been enough," Hiruzen considered as he drew from his pipe. "But Tsunade is long past her prime and the shinobi world has not forgotten the Suna-Oto Invasion that forced me to retire. You may yet achieve your dream sooner than you realise, Naruto-kun."

Naruto frowned sceptically. "The old lady is still a lot stronger than I am."

"Oh, she'd likely pulverise you," Hiruzen agreed easily as though it were comical. "But what I said earlier was no form of flattery. Time and experience will sharpen your skills."

"If you say so," he decided to humour his surrogate grandfather. He knew he had improved considerably but the notion of achieving his dream so soon felt foreign and unrealistic. "They'll pick Kakashi-sensei before they pick me."

"That is a likely possibility," the Sandaime conceded. "For now it is important you return to Konoha and remain there. Your presence alone will bolster morale."

Naruto's expression fell. "I doubt it." He had tried not to give it much thought but he knew he was still in poor standing with the majority of the village. "They still think I'm some kind of demon."

"If you are the man I know you to be then you will find a way to change their hearts and minds," Hiruzen spoke with conviction as he looked him in the eye. "You have a strange affect on people, Naruto-kun, though you may not even notice it yourself. Listen to me very carefully and know that I means these words: there will come a time the village will look to you and acknowledge you for the man you were destined to be." Hiruzen grabbed him by the shoulder. "The Will of Fire burns brightly in you. I have known it since the moment I first held you in my arms all those years ago on the day you were born. You _will _become Hokage one day. I have nothing but faith in you."

Naruto couldn't find his voice, not that he would know what to say, as he was simply overwhelmed with emotion. He was barely able to form a coherent thought. All he could think about was the letter he had received the day he was promoted. "You're-"

"Serious? Very much so," Hiruzen affirmed as he got to his feet. "You will have to make decisions for the greater good, Naruto-kun. It won't be easy, and there will times where you will hate yourself and feel as though none of it is worth, and sometimes it won't be, but you will have to make them. That is what it means to be Hokage. To take on the burden of responsibility for the lives under your care, to make the tough decisions that protect your country and village."

Naruto watched Hiruzen go as he contemplated his words and the weight behind them.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

If there was one thing Tsunade hated most about her position as Hokage that wasn't related to actual shinobi affairs it was sitting in her office all day. It wasn't the paperwork per se that made it intolerable. She had plenty of experience dealing with paperwork all day as the head of the hospital in her youth though that didn't require her to stay cooped up in her office all day. Every now and then she would get up and pace around her office to get some exercise in, partly to avoid clots but mostly out of boredom or anxiety.

"Kakashi, good, you're here," she said to seemingly no one in particular.

The shinobi in question sat perched on her windowsill. He had gone through some changes himself over the past year. One of them was the fact he was clad in ANBU attire and wore dog mask. "You called for me, Tsunade-sama?"

"How's ANBU treating you?" the Godaime made small talk as he climbed into her office. She knew he was slightly disappointed he hadn't gotten the drop on her. 'You're going to have to try harder than that, kid. I've had to deal with Jiraiya's perversion my whole life.'

"Well enough, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said as he took off his ANBU mask, under which he still wore his regular facemask. "I'm sorry to report in this late at night."

Over the past year the Copy Ninja had returned to ANBU to work with Rooster. His presence alone in the clandestine branch had improved their performance. There was even talk he would soon be chosen to replace the current ANBU commander Neko, whom he had personally trained years ago. That was mostly conjecture though Tsunade had considered it. She doubted Kakashi was interested in the job anyway.

"I spoke with Sasuke earlier so I'll get straight to it," Tsunade as she took her seat behind her desk. "Naruto is coming back soon."

"Time flies," Kakashi remarked audibly pleased. "I wish it were under the better circumstances but it'll be good to have him back. The village hasn't quite been the same without him."

"Too quiet, huh?" the Godaime surmised jokingly. "It'll be good to have him home but we need to be careful."

"Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi caught on quickly. "You want me to keep an eye on him when he gets back."

Tsunade nodded affirmative. "That's correct. It'll be too obvious if it's just you though so I've asked Sakura and Sasuke to assist you."

"A reunion," Kakashi eye-smiled. The idea pleased him. "I've never been a real teacher to any of them but I believe this time things can be different. My time in ANBU gave me a lot of perspective, I think now is the right time to once again return to retirement."

"That's good, Kakashi," Tsunade smiled.

"Are you sure Naruto doesn't know anything yet, Tsunade-sama?" the Copy Ninja asked to be sure. "It'll be easier to keep him in the village if he doesn't find out."

"Hiruzen-sensei hasn't told him anything as far as I know," Tsunade replied albeit with a light frown. "You don't think he would disclose that information at a time like this, do you?"

Kakashi avoided giving a definitive answer. "Hiruzen-sama is very wise. If he has told Naruto then I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Well, let's hope he hasn't," Tsunade said. "There's no telling what he would do if he found out too soon."

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Naruto tossed and turned in his sleep that night.

_He lied on his back breathing heavily. He had just managed to overcome the great mountain. He was beyond exhaustion. He simply couldn't bring himself to get up. It was too much. _

_"I must say I am impressed, Naruto-kun."_

_He managed to look to his side and Hiruzen waiting for him. The Sandaime was accompanied by Enma and wore a severe look on his wrinkled face. _

**_"Well done," _**_Enma congratulated._

_"Thanks." Naruto hoped he didn't offend the Monkey King by remaining on his back, but he was too damn tired. "Gimme a minute. I'll be up once I can feel my legs again." They didn't share his amusement. Naruto finally got to his feet, though he had to lean on his knees. "Jiichan?"_

_"You've done well in keeping your deadline, Naruto-kun, I am deeply impressed," Hiruzen said as he pat Enma on the shoulder. The Monkey King promptly transformed into an adamantine staff. "Now it is time to begin your training."_

_"Wait, what?" Naruto couldn't believe his ears. "You mean now?"_

_Hiruzen nodded as he twirled the staff and adopted a stance. "There is no time to waste."_

He woke with a start, gasping for air as he sat up. It was dark out and the stars littered the sky beautifully like they always did atop the mountain. He hadn't realised he fell asleep where the old man had left him.

The jinchūriki sat up, rubbed his face and ran a hand through his lengthy hair. He had come to a realisation.

Jiraiya was waiting.

He probably had been for a year now.

It went against everything Hiruzen had taught him about the greater good, it went against logic itself for it was so dangerous that he knew, even though he was an optimist through and through, was likely to fail.

"I have to go."

Jiraiya was his godfather. He had been an absent one for the majority of his life, but he was still family. The man was his _godfather. _It was selfish and foolish of him, he knew that, but even so, despite the irrationality of it all, he _had to _go.

He didn't give it much more thought as he returned to his small hut in the village where he had lived for the past year and began to pack his things. He was so engrossed in his one-track mindset he simply didn't think about the consequences of his actions. It would simply kill his resolve.

His old clothes didn't fit him anymore so he stuck with his Sarutobi clan tunic and began to attach his equipment, strapping his kunai and shuriken holsters, pouches and scroll bandolier. He put on a simple grey cloak that reached his midriff and fixed his kodachi vertically along his spine.

Lastly his tantō lay on his desk.

_He bounded and skidded over the hard ground painfully, sporting cuts, bruises and wounds of all kinds of variations. He was so, so tired. "I'm too tired to fight. I can barely move."_

_"Enough excuses!" Hiruzen angrily stuck his staff into the ground. "Do you think you will always face your opponents fresh and ready to fight?" The Sandaime actually glared at him. "You've done nothing but complain thus far, and I find that extremely disappointing."_

_"I just climbed the fucking mountain!" Naruto shouted back, far more tired than angry. "How the hell am I supposed to fight you of all people? You know you're going to win!"_

_"Coward!" Hiruzen bellowed much to his shock. The Sandaime closed the distance between them in an instant and sent him flying with a swing of his staff. Naruto lied on his back with his arms sprawled, though Hiruzen did not let up and dropped his knee in his stomach before darting back and spinning his staff. "Get up!_

_"I can't," Naruto cried pitifully, feeling hopeless and miserable and drooling blood and saliva. "I don't have the skill or the training-"_

_"The training means nothing if you lack conviction!" Hiruzen raised his voice again._

_A blade embedded itself several inches deep next to Naruto's head causing him to scramble to his feet. "What the hell-" his protested died upon recognising the blade to be his own. _

_It had been in Itachi's hands the last time he saw it._

Naruto lowered his hand and shouldered his bag with one last lingering look across the hut. He pushed the curtains aside as he exited and walked down the dirt path he walked up earlier. The Sarutobi clan were deep sleepers; he figured leaving unnoticed would be relatively easy.

A little while later he reached a plateau about a quarter mile from the Sarutobi settlement and bit his thumb as he performed a string of hand seals and pushed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

The smoke cleared and gave way to Senzaru, his peregrine falcon familiar. The falcon towered over him, the size of a small house. **"Naruto-sama." **The summon dipped its head graciously. **"It has been too long." **They had last seen each other several months ago.

"Hey, Senzaru," he patted the falcon's beak and smoothened his feathers. "I need a ride out of here."

**"Does this mean you have met your unreasonable deadline and completed your training?" **the falcon squawked amused, only to look at him at amazement when he nodded. **"That is beyond impressive, Naruto-sama. The Sarutobi are known for their arduous training regimen."**

"Yeah, it wasn't easy, but now it's time for me to go," Naruto replied as he climbed on the falcon's back. "I need you to take me to Kusagakure."

**"Not Konoha?"** Senzaru reared his large head confused.

The jinchūriki shook his head. "No, not yet. I have something I need to do in Kusagakure first. It can't wait." They both turned to two familiar chakra signatures approaching them.

Hiruzen and Enma approached with mutual expressions of apprehension.

"I know what you're about to say," he told them before they had the chance to speak. "That I'm being reckless and foolish. Stupid even. That my actions could have farther reaching consequences than I might be able to appreciate right now." He was fully aware of that already, he _knew _what he the risks were infiltrating another hidden village. "I still have to go."

"I'm not here to stop you," Hiruzen said much to his surprise. "As much as I'd like to, I doubt I could if you're as driven as that look in your eye tells me. "

Naruto swallowed hard. "Then why are you here? I know you sure as hell don't approve of this."

"You are correct I do not approve," Hiruzen acknowledged reaching into his robe. "But my time is nearly up, Naruto-kun. For forty years I have had to make decisions in matters of life and death. By now you should know I'm not as infallible as you once thought. I have made mistakes. Perhaps letting you go without trying to stop you is one of them."

"Maybe I haven't changed much at all," Naruto said quietly. He felt ashamed, more so than he ever had been, and yet it wasn't enough. Why couldn't he just listen? The smart thing to do would be to stay or go straight to Konoha. 'But it wouldn't be the right thing,' he thought. "I'll bring Jiraiya back, gramps. I promise. Before you time's up, you'll have your goodbye."

Hiruzen smiled at him in the same grandfatherly he done since he was a child. It was a stark contrast to his grim and stern persona as the Sandaime, the Professor who had drilled the shinobi arts into his mind and body over the past year. "I came here to give you this." Hiruzen withdrew the tantō from his sleeve and closed the distance between them.

Naruto looked at the sheathed blade. There was a reason he had chosen to leave it behind. "Gramps, I-"

"Take it," the old man insisted pressing it in his hand. "You know what it truly symbolises now. Carry it with you to remind yourself what you are fighting for."

Naruto clutched the sheath tightly and nodded. "Thank you for everything, Hiruzen-jiichan."

"Go," Hiruzen said smiling encouragingly albeit sadly.

**"Take good care of him, young falcon," **Enma said to Senzaru. The falcon dipped its head even lower in the presence of the Monkey King. **"And take good care of yourself, Naruto-kun. You will always have a family here. Remember that, and come by any time you'd like."**

Naruto didn't have it in him to say the words of gratitude he wished to convey. They were letting him go despite everything, despite the danger, the risks and the recklessness of it all. They had taken him in as one of their own and taught him everything he knew, and now they trusted him, in his ability to make the right decision even though they had vastly more experience and knowledge.

In the end there were only two words he could say before he took off.

"Thank you."

He didn't look back.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Tsunade was still up working late into the night, a frown of concentration on her face as she caught up on paperwork. She had a wasted a lot of time procrastinating during the day. Normally she would catch up the day after but the documents in her hands were particularly pressing. She took off her reading glasses and pinched the bridge as she leant back in her chair for a moment. "Shi-" she trailed off realising she had sent he assistant home several hours ago.

_Poof!_

A lesser shinobi would have jumped at the sudden appearance of the Monkey King.

"Enma?" Tsunade asked surprised. Dozens of possible scenarios played out in the back of her mind but deep down she already knew.

Enma looked at her gravely.

**"He knows."**

Tsunade snapped the pair of glasses. "Shit."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

So there you have it.

I had intended for Naruto not to find out about Jiraiya for a while longer. I thought I'd have him return to the village for a little while and then discover it on his own accord, but given how much exposition I've written in the past arc I figured based on the low amount of reviews you guys were getting rather bored so I decided to speed it up quite a bit.

Naruto has grown up a lot over the time skip and I hope I'm doing a good job at portraying that without putting it on too much. He's a lot more informed and knowledge about the shinobi world but he still has some ways to go. That being said he is definitely a lot more skilled this time around and he'll have plenty of opportunities to show how much he has grown.

I hope you guys enjoyed that scene with Jiraiya and Sōgen. Quite a few people left reviews expressing their shock (and disgust) over his apparent death, but I believe I made it quite clear he didn't die. And now you know a little more about Sōgen. I like to flesh out my OCs over time so for those who are interested in his character you can look forward to learning more about the enigmatic Kusagakure leader and his ties with the Uzumaki clan.

Like Hiruzen said tensions are rising in the shinobi world. Orochimaru has managed to piss off Akatsuki even more and made a few more enemies at the same time and Konoha in particular is beginning to lose face in the eyes of minor village now part of the Akatsuki Alliance, but more on that later.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review.


	23. Chapter 23: Combat Ready

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 02-02-14_

**_Admit it, you didn't think I'd be updating this soon, did you? Well, I can't blame you given my track record. The chapter pretty much wrote itself since you guys left a ton of reviews full of excitement and questions I wanted to answer ASAP. Also, I'd appreciate it if you guys check out The Uzumaki Descendant. A new chapter for that should be out soon. _**

**_Unedited._**

* * *

><p>CH23: Combat Ready<p>

* * *

><p>(Three Weeks Later: Konohagakure – Hidden Underground Facilities)<p>

Tsunade stood facing a wall of monitors in the encrypted communications facility located directly beneath the Hokage Tower. The only sources of light were the monitors and the ceiling light positioned right above her. Though she stood by her own there was undoubtedly a tension in the room.

_"You mean to tell us you have no means of stopping him?" _the stern voice of the Minister of the Right echoed through the room.

"That is correct," Tsunade answered.

_"Though it has been three weeks since you found out where your jinchūriki was headed?"_

"Uzumaki Naruto has proven himself difficult to track down, Udaijin-dono," Tsunade answered neutrally. "Though unlikely, it is _possible_ he has successfully broken past Kusagakure's stringent security measures and infiltrated the village, but we presently have no means of verifying that."

_"This is preposterous!" _said the Minister of the Left. _"You are the Hokage! The jinchūriki is your responsibility. How can you have let this happen? Undoubtedly this aggression will be seen as a declaration of war!"_

"The blame lies with me," Tsunade acknowledged without thought for covering her own hide. At the end of the day she was a shinobi first and foremost, not a politician. She had no interest in playing the blame game when that could potentially cost the lives of her subordinates. "The consequences will be what they will be, but now is not the time for infighting."

_"What are you doing to prepare us for the worst, Tsunade-dono?" _the Daimyō spoke from the largest monitor in the wall, hiding behind his ornate golden fan.

"Your Lordship, I have sent orders to recall all foreign diplomats in or near territories allied with Kusa no Kuni. The entire shinobi force has been put on alert for combat readiness. As we speak all preparatory procedures and protocols are taking effect," she reported dutifully as she held his gaze. "We are reaching out to our allies just incase while we attempt to establish diplomacy with Kusagakure before anything happens. We're not looking for war but, respectfully, Daimyō-sama, I will make damn sure that we're ready if it comes to that."

_"Very well, Hokage-dono." _

_"Daimyō-sama, surely that is not all?" _the Minister of the Left outraged. _"Her assurances mean nothing in the big scheme of things. This country cannot afford a war at this time!"_

The Fire Lord was unimpressed with the minister's outburst and turned his head in the monitor, an impassive look in his eyes. _"If you have any suggestions, my dear minister, my ears are open."_

_"I…" _Unable to come up with an answer the Minister of the Left turned to his right. _"Minister of the Right, as the executive of all military branches, I believe this is your area of expertise. I submit to your superior knowledge."_

_"Thank you, Saijin-dono," _the Minister of the Right nodded. He turned his stern countenance in front of him towards Tsunade. _"War is absolutely out of the question. Though our army stands strong and our navy is powerful, our shinobi force remains significantly weakened with the loss of the Sandaime and the many lives lost in the invasion not so long ago. We had hoped your reputation would inspire fear in our enemies but it appears it is not so, Hokage-dono."_

Tsunade bit back a scathing remark. He wasn't insulting her to be petty; he was merely giving his assessment of the situation as a professional. "What do you propose, Udaijin-dono?"

_"Cut all ties with Uzumaki Naruto effective immediately," _the Minister of the Right stated without hesitation. _"Disavow all knowledge, involvement in and support for his actions. Declare him a rogue shinobi and enemy of Hi no Kuni. Let the world know we do not support nor condone his actions and that a bounty shall be paid for his head."_

Tsunade's eyes widened.

_"A fine idea, Udaijin-dono!"_

"That is _not_ going to happen!"

_"Do you value the life one shinobi over that of potentially millions, Hokage-dono?" _the Minister of the Right demanded with a disapproving look. _"Regardless of your personal attachment to the jinchūriki, we cannot claim responsibility for his actions. We must sever all ties for the greater good, and we must do so convincingly."_

"You say you don't want us to look weak but do you _really _think losing our only jinchūriki will make us appear stronger?" Tsunade firmly shook her head; she wasn't even going to consider it, not even for a second. "And must I remind you who his father is? It would be a disgrace to the Yondaime's legacy to make a sacrificial lamb of his only son!"

_"The Yondaime would not put his son above the country!" _

"Gentlemen, let me make this perfectly clear," the Godaime said in an as composed manner as she could muster. "Uzumaki Naruto will _not _be disavowed. Under no circumstances will we abandon him."

_"You think yourself irreplaceable, do you, Hokage-dono?" _the Minister of the Left challenged, his plump cheeks shaking with rage. _"If you will not do as you are told then perhaps it is time we find a new Hokage. One that can still strike fear into the hearts and minds of our enemies!"_

_"Now, now," _the Daimyō chimed in airily. _"There will be no talk of replacements. Tsunade-dono has done fine work as Hokage. I trust her judgment."_

Tsunade bowed her head. "You honour me beyond deserving, your Lordship."

_"The Yondaime's son will not be renounced," _the Fire Lord paused and glanced at his ministers. _"For now. I trust Tsunade-dono will resolve this issue in a timely fashion."_

_"Did you say the Yondaime's son? I didn't know he had a son!" _a new voice said enthusiastically in the background.

Tsunade tensed for a moment. Who the hell was listening in on their conversation? The Daimyō looked troubled. "Your Lordship?"

A regal looking young man with silky black hair and fair complexion leant over the Daimyō's shoulder directly into the camera. _"Father, is that the Godaime? She's quite beautiful!"_

_"My eldest, Ryūken," _the Lord of the Land of Fire introduced tiredly. _"I suppose this is where we conclude our meeting."_

_"Wait, what? I want to hear more about the Yondaime!" _the Fire Lord's son said petulantly. _"I didn't even know he had a son!"_

_"I bid you good day, ministers, Hokage._"

The Daimyō's monitor went blank.

_"This isn't over, Hokage-dono," _the Minister of the Left promised.

The Minister of the Right agreed with his counterpart. _"You will hear from us."_

Tsunade held her tongue as their monitors turned blank. If it wasn't for the fact the monitors were costly she would have destroyed them.

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

A hooded figure moved through the bustling streets of the Hidden Grass village, wearing a poncho reaching his midriff to obscure his identity. It was raining heavily and the masses rushed through the streets to find shelter. The figure passed a pair of Kusagakure shinobi who, judging from the pieces of cloth attached to their waists, were part of the Village Patrol Unit, the Kusagakure equivalent of Military Police. Neither shinobi recognised the hooded figure; their suspicions piqued when he turned from them and sped up his pace.

"Hey, you!"

"Village Patrol! Stop!"

The hooded figure continued to ghost through the crowds of scurrying villagers and shinobi alike, and reached into his poncho as he disappeared into a dark alley. The Kusa-nin gave chase and ran into the alley. There was no one to be seen, it was as though the hooded figure had simply vanished from the face of the Earth.

"_Rrribit!_"

They turned with tensed fighting stances to see an orange and blue toad hop past them.

"What are you getting so jumpy for? It's just a toad."

"Shut up, you jumped too!"

"Only because you did and I thought you saw something!"

The Kusa-nin continued to argue as they left the alley. As they left, the hooded figure _emerged from the toad's mouth._

Naruto threw back his hood, a distasteful grimace on his face. "The smell is going to take getting used to, buddy." He stooped and picked up the toad and placed it in his poncho, patting the small bulge. "Thanks for the help though."

It had been nearly two weeks since he managed to infiltrate Kusagakure. It hadn't been easy. He had spent the first week simply observing the village from the outside under several disguises whenever he could. The security was no joke. All civilians carried papers at all times and all visitors, with the exception of licensed merchants and other visitors, were denied entry. It would have been impossible for him to get in without the help of the toads.

**_"If you're serious about infiltrating Kusagakure of all places you're as reckless as your are stupid, kid," _**Gamabunta had told him when he had explained his intentions. **_"But if you're going in anyway then you might as well use Jiraiya's infiltration toads."_**

Jiraiya's Gamagakure jutsu proved to be dead useful all right. The Hiding in a Toad technique made it possible for him to not only infiltrate the tightly secured village but also hide at a moment's notice. It also provided him with a place to sleep, though the stench was far from pleasant.

"No offence." He patted the toad under his poncho again and went about his way, fixing his hood as he left the alley.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

The third floor of the Hokage Tower consisted entirely out of one large conference room at rare occasions such as times of crisis. It was such a time now word had spread that the entire shinobi force was to be at combat readiness at all times without exception.

Shizune stood on an elevated plateau designated for the Hokage and her top shinobi as she tried to call for order whilst Tsunade finished up business. "Everyone, calm down! All will be explained soon!"

The floor was packaged far past capacity with dozens and dozens of shinobi eager to hear from their Hokage why the village was preparing as though war was imminent.

"Where is Hokage-sama?"

"We want answers!"

"Are we going to war?"

"No way, idiot! Who the hell would we go to war with?"

"Were you not alive two years ago?"

Tumultuous arguments broke out all over the floor as all kinds of theories began to float around. Tensions were rising and a riot certainly wasn't out of the question by the look of it. Shizune looked quite distressed as she tried to call for order and quiet.

…

Nara Shikaku sat cross-legged on a cushion behind the Godaime's assistant next to several other high-ranking shinobi. The Nara clan shifted his weight as though he were about to stand and address the men himself.

"That is not your duty, Shikaku-san," Koharu said.

"You will only make the Hokage look weak if you do her job for her," Homura agreed. "We can't have that, not now."

Shikaku didn't believe their intentions but knew they spoke and so sat back down nonetheless.

…

Sakura watched Shizune eventually give up and disappear from sight, probably looking for the Godaime who, by her report earlier, was in a meeting with the Daimyō and his top ranking ministers. 'What is going on?' She could only speculate but decided against it. They would all know soon enough.

"Sakura!"

The rosette in question turned to find Ino heading her way, dragging along Chōji and Shikamaru by their arms and followed by the members of Team 8. Like everyone else on the third floor they were in full Konoha shinobi attire. They had all grown considerably over the past year. "You guys, what are you doing here?"

"Damn it, Ino, I'm supposed to stay with my platoon," Shikamaru frowned at the Yamanaka heiress as he shook her off. "This isn't a social gathering. Stop getting excited like a kid."

"Oh, shut up, Shika!" Ino stuck her tongue out at her childhood friend. "How long has it been since all of us have been together?"

"Four months and twenty-three days," Shino droned monotonously. "Though not all of us are here."

"Sasuke-kun refused to come," Ino lamented theatrically. "Unlike Chōji he takes his job as part of the Military Police seriously."

"You dragged me here," the Akimichi said annoyed. "And it was my lunch break!"

"You're always eating, what does it matter?" Kiba fell in with a sneer at the Akimichi.

"Quiet," Sakura called as the arguments died down.

Tsunade stood on the stage wearing her Hokage robe. "I have called this meeting to inform you all as to why the shinobi force has been set to combat readiness."

"Are we going to war, Hokage-sama?"

Further argument threatened to resume but Tsunade wouldn't let it. "I will not allow any interruptions. Whatever questions you may have, save them for later." The Godaime cleared her throat. There were few brave, or foolish, enough to continue whispering amongst themselves but she ignored them. "Most of you, by now, have become aware of the changing political climate. Tensions are rising in and it may very well be true war looms on the horizon."

"I knew it! We're going to war!"

"SILENCE!" Tsunade commanded loudly, her chakra momentarily spiking to remind them whom they were interrupting. It was perhaps a tad excessive but she would not allow her own subordinates to openly defy her. "Moments ago I spoke to Daimyō-sama and his ministers," she continued in a calm, collected tone. "War is not an outcome we seek, though it may not be up to us. The politicians will play their game of politics to see where the road leads us, but in the meantime we shinobi must prepare ourselves should the need arise that we must fight for country and village."

Tsunade could see the looks of uncertainty and apprehension clearly in the eyes of the young, those who had not served in war. The older, more experienced shinobi retained calm expressions as though they were receiving their usual briefing.

She prayed it would not come to war. Not again. She didn't know if she could handle the bloodshed, the pain, the suffering, and the loss countless lives… But she needed to be strong. Tsunade knew they would look to her for leadership and guidance. It was her duty as Hokage to lead by example and to inspire those under her charge, and so she banished any and all thought of anxiety and fear and focused on the task at hand.

"Pray that it does not come to war, and if it does, pray for the strength needed to keep your loved ones safe." She glanced to her advisors and top shinobi with a searching look. It appeared none of them wished to speak, so she sat down on the cushion in front of them and nodded to her shinobi. "If you have any questions, we will answer what we can for now."

Countless hands raised and shouting began as many rushed to learn the answers to their questions.

"Yes, you," Tsunade looked to one of the shinobi nearby. "State your name and question."

"Mibu Shinobu, Hokage-sama. Will missions continue as normal under combat readiness?"

"For the time being we are recalling our shinobi and are limiting all missions to within our own borders," Tsunade answered before pointing to another.

Most questions were along the same vein. Some even came up twice, but for the most part, it seemed as though they were all otherwise remaining calm. That was until she pointed to a shinobi in the front. "You there, you have a question?

"Saragaku Tsuzumi, Hokage-sama." The chūnin was noticeably embarrassed; probably due in part the Hokage hadn't recognized him.

"Ah, yes, team leader of 312 of the Nijū Shōtai," Tsunade recalled a moment later much to his apparent relief. "Your question?"

"Hokage-sama, what has caused the sudden shift in tension? For the past year we've experienced some noticeable changes but the combat readiness doctrine-"

"That is classified, Sarugaku-san," Tsunade cut him off once she realised where he was going with his question. "Next."

"Hokage-sama," Koharu spoke up suddenly from behind her. "In light of the severity of this situation, I believe they deserve a degree of transparency.

Tsunade glared at the older woman over her shoulder, ever a thorn in her side. "Oh?"

"I concur," Homura agreed predictably.

'Of course you do,' Tsunade fumed silently, refusing to let it show their interference bothered her. "Very well," she conceded as she stood up once again to address the entire floor. "Three weeks ago one of our shinobi, Uzumaki Naruto, was scheduled to return to the village. He did not. Instead, he headed for Kusagakure, our staunchest opposition as of late. There is a distinct possibility that conflict will be inevitable."

The outrage was predictable, and equally deafening. Tsunade could hardly make out what they were shouting save for a few.

"You mean to tell us we're risking going to war because of that fool?"

"What does 'distinct possibility' even mean? Give us straight answers!"

As this went on Naruto's peers looked one another with mutual expressions of shock and disbelief. "OK, _what the hell?_" Ino looked across the group. "He isn't even home yet and he's already kicking up a storm?"

"He must have had a good reason," Shikamaru said seriously. "Naruto is not an idiot, and he sure as hell wouldn't put us all at risk over nothing."

"He's a fool." The group turned and looked to Sasuke as he joined them. He wore the traditional Konoha shinobi garb, indicating his rank as chūnin, as well as the black Military Police cloth tied around his bicep. He had grown considerably taller and more handsome over the years.

"Sasuke-kun," Ino hugged his arm to her chest. "I thought you didn't want to stand with us."

"I came here incase I had to restrain her," Sasuke said looking to Sakura, whose eyes were set in death glare aimed towards a group of shinobi badmouthing their former teammate.

"I told you they shouldn't have let him become a shinobi!"

"They should have just drowned him at birth and saved us all the trouble!"

"Don't you think that's a little harsh? I heard he helped us out a lot during the invasion, even beat the Ichibi."

"I thought that was Uchiha Sasuke? I guess it takes a demon to defeat a demon, huh?"

Sakura began to approach them without thinking, her fists clenched tightly, with every intention of pulverising them on her mind. The shinobi noticed her intent and looked at her suspiciously.

"You got a problem with what we're saying little girl?"

"Don't get cocky just because you're the old lady's pity project!"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the arm before things could escalate and began to pull her back. "It's nothing."

"Let me go, Sasuke-kun," Sakura tried to shake him off as nonviolently as she could. "They need to be taught a lesson."

"What good will fighting them do?" Sasuke released her as they rejoined the group.

Sakura actually glared at him. "Doesn't it bother you, the way they talk about him? I know you care about him too, even if you did try to kill him the last time you saw him." Her words clearly stung

"Sakura!" Ino said angrily.

"Of course it bothers me," Sasuke said quietly. He felt the same way as the rosette, though perhaps not entirely for the same reasons. "But that doesn't change anything. You're the Godaime's student and I'm with the Military Police. We can't go around attacking people for badmouthing Naruto."

"The two of you changed," Kiba said with clear disapproval. "If anyone talked shit about my team I'd lay them out, no questions asked."

"Lack of forethought and mindless violence is common with your kin, Inuzuka," Sasuke spat, his patent Uchiha sneer on his face.

"You want to go, asshole?" Kiba challenged aggressively stepping forward.

"Quiet," Shikamaru called as Tsunade once again regained control of the crowd. It was troubling, he thought, how much of her support was dwindling. There used to be a time no one dared to speak out of turn against her.

"That's quite enough theorising!" the Godaime shouted over them. "This information was meant to stay classified until we knew all the facts, but I have no choice to reveal the reason behind Uzumaki Naruto's actions."

"Tsunade-sama, _no!_" Koharu hissed at her.

"You opened this can of worms trying to make me look weak, you old bitch, now let me clean it up," she replied at a lower register before continuing to address her men. The situation was far from favourable, and she had undoubtedly made a blunder by allowing Koharu and Homura to attend, but not all was lost. There was an opportunity to raise support and she took it.

"Approximately one year ago, Kusagakure called a secret summit, inviting a number villages with significant military strength. There was talk of Akatsuki attending. In order to determine why, Jiraiya went to investigate. He has since gone missing and though his status is currently unknown, we know for certain Kusagakure was involved in his disappearance. We suspect Uzumaki Naruto went to Kusa to retrieve Jiraiya!"

A long and tense silence reigned, like the quiet before a storm, and ended then just as abruptly. At first, Tsunade feared her on the fly plan had failed, that their outrage would reach unprecedented levels and that she had potentially lost all of her support, and then, much to her relief, a loud wave of support flowed through the floor.

"THE NIJŪ SHŌTAI STANDS PROUDLY BEHIND ITS OWN!" Kizu Enrō bellowed in an uncharacteristically loud voice for the otherwise laidback Platoon Leader. "If those Kusagakure bastards want a fight, they've got one!"

Similar sentiments followed shortly just as loudly, some even louder. Tsunade thanked her lucky stars and hid a sigh of relief. It wasn't unanimous but the general sentiment was most definitely positive. Playing the "us versus them" card would have left a bad taste in her mouth under usual circumstances, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and she had to deal with Koharu and Homura's interference before she lost their support. The two advisors had been a pain in her ass for a while now but she hadn't expected them to break the façade of unity and openly try to sabotage her like that. There wasn't a doubt on her mind that Danzō was involved. The old crones would get theirs soon, but she knew when to pick her battles, and decided to repay their betrayal when the time was right.

-ooo-

The barbecue restaurant was roaring with debate and laughter in the background as eight of the Rookie Nine sat in their booth. Blue flames stoked the grill and the aroma of vegetables wafted from the broth on the stove.

"I can't believe we're going to war," Ino bemoaned stretched on the table mere inches away from the low burning fires, her hand clutching a large mug of beer. Though they were technically too young to be served alcohol (shinobi were allowed to drink from 16) the waiters had been too busy to even think of asking for their IDs, thus Ino had taken advantage of the situation and ordered drinks for everyone.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Ino," Shikamaru admonished with a frown. "We don't know that yet."

"No? In case you didn't hear that idiot Naruto is on a war path by himself, Shika." Ino sat up and chugged the rest of her drink.

Sakura glowered at Ino across the table and opened her mouth to say something when Sasuke raised his arm in front of her. "She's right to be angry at him," he told her. "Naruto's actions may lead to war. You can't blame her or anyone else for being angry."

"But he only went because of Jiraiya-sama," Sakura argued as though she were indignant on their former teammate's behalf.

"No one person, no matter who that person is, is worth more than an entire country, Sakura," Sasuke replied with wearing patience. "You know that."

"He's right," Shikamaru nodded.

"I'll kick his ass when he gets back," Kiba said baring his fangs. "Just you watch, I'll rip him a new one."

"I'd like to see you try, Inuzuka," Sasuke sneered at the Inuzuka.

Kiba growled aggressively. "What, you want a piece of me too, pretty boy?"

"Let's not start fighting amongst ourselves now," Shikamaru fell in before things escalated. "What's done is done. All we can do now is pray he gets home safely."

"If he doesn't we might have to go war anyway," Sakura thought out loud for a moment. Then, quickly catching her error, she feigned clarification. "Because Tsunade-sama is so fond of him, you know?"

Sasuke merely shook his head though he didn't seem too disappointed. Shikamaru looked at her sternly for a second but otherwise held his tongue.

"Yeah, what is up with that anyway?" Ino looked across the table for the answered. "How come Naruto is so close to Hokage-sama, and Jiraiya-sama for that matter? Now I think about it the Sandaime was always really fond him too."

"Maybe it's pity," Kiba hazarded a guess between glaring at Chōji who eyed his section of the grill hungry. "Don't even think about it."

"Perhaps there is more to Naruto than we know," Shino suggested in his monotone voice. "What do we really know about him in the first place?"

Sakura, Sasuke and Shikamaru exchanged discreet looks.

"That doesn't make sense, of course we know him." Ino disagreed. "He's Naruto. We've known him since we were kids. You three were like best friends with him," she said looked at Chōji, Kiba and Shikamaru.

"We were detention buddies, that's about it," Kiba declined the very notion of friendship with the blond. "My ma was pretty pushy about being friends with him though."

"Same here," Chōji said sounding surprised. "My dad always told me to be nice to him. I just thought he wanted me to make more friends."

The Akimichi and Inuzuka looked at Shikamaru expectantly. "My parents were the same," he admitted reluctantly, though he knew it was unlikely they'd figure out more.

"Now that I think about it my mother told me to stay away from him but my dad told me to decide for myself if he was nice," Ino said wondering out loud. "She told you the same thing, right, Sakura?"

"It was a long time ago, Ino, I don't remember," Sakura lied before raising her glass of water to her lips to avoid further elaboration.

"Sasuke?" Ino looked at the Uchiha. "You're like Naruto's best friend. Did-"

"No, they didn't," Sasuke answered before she could finish her question. He didn't want to dampen the mood any more by bringing up his deceased parents. "And we're not best friends. That's Nara."

"You sound jealous," Shikamaru said jokingly with a lazy smile. "Well it's fine by me. You guys have hardly spent time with Naruto since graduation so I guess that title goes to me by default, huh?"

For some reason they all laughed at that, even Sasuke cracked a rare smile. Who knew how many times of smiles and laughter they had left?

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Naruto followed his mark from a safe distance. One of his first instincts upon infiltrating the village had been to wreak havoc and level the entire damn village if he had to, but he knew better than to follow his most basic instincts. Before he could do anything, he needed to gather information. Hiruzen had taught him any shinobi worth his salt placed a great deal of importance in intelligence, especially when behind enemy lines, so the first thing Naruto had done in Kusagakure was simply to observe.

He had always been proficient in blending in and giving people the slip when necessary. You didn't become a successful prankster in a shinobi village without a talent for stealth. He was as careful as possible when stalking around the village in plain sight to get a good bearing on his surroundings, the infrastructure and the people.

The headquarters of the village lay squarely in the middle of the village in the sizeable military district. It was a military district surrounded by high, barbwire walls; behind which neatly tended patches of tall grass lead to a courtyard and several smaller buildings. There were a great number of sealing arrays in the vicinity (some of which were in plain sight and likely dummies, and others were hidden), various sentry squads marching about and guards on all nearby rooftops. Entry was strictly monitored. Only certain shinobi were allowed in and out of the district, and hardly any of them appeared particularly strong, and thus Naruto came to the conclusion they were intelligence officers in charge of communicating with the outside under Sōgen's watchful eyes.

He had heard a great deal about the Hidden Grass leader since his arrival. Most of it was merely blind praise bordering on the fanatical, but every now and then he heard Kusa-nin discussing the cruelty he inflicted on others, _including his own men. _Naruto didn't want to think what the Shogun had put Jiraiya through over the past year. It only made him more anxious, though he knew he couldn't afford to be impatient. If anything went wrong there was no guarantee he could escape. It had troubled the Toad Chieftain greatly when he told him.

**_"We lost connection with Jiraiya shortly after he summoned Gamaken. Something made it impossible for us to Reverse Summon him. The same thing might happen to you, so be careful."_**

Naruto knew he had hit a dead end with the village headquarters. There simply wasn't any conceivable way to successfully infiltrate the steel compound, uncover the information he sought _and _withdraw. Perhaps Jiraiya could have pulled it off but he sure as hell knew he couldn't. He was having a hard time keeping it together as it was.

A true shinobi knew when to admit weakness, Hiruzen had taught him that.

Thus came in the mark: a Kusagakure shinobi by the name of Hajime Isao who served as an intelligence officer at the headquarters. Naruto had been following the Kusa-nin for a full week now after a few failed attempts to establish a routine with others. Out of all of his potential marks, Hajime Isao was easily the most routine, and therefore the most vulnerable.

The intelligence officer woke up every morning at 5AM and left his apartment at 5:30, stopping on the way by his favourite bakery on the way to work. He worked until 7PM every day before being relieved. Hajime always went straight to home, where he would stay for about two hours before heading out for drinks at a bar nearby. A strange and rather risky choice of patronage for an intelligence officer Naruto had thought, but true to his habits, Hajime always arrived at the bar around 9:15PM and stayed there until any time before midnight, drunkenly stumbling home. He was troubled, that much was obvious, though he wasn't very vocal. He always sat at his regular spot close to the tap and drank by himself, ignoring everything and everyone around him. Naruto had seen him spur advances of attractive women without even looking at them.

On this particular night, at 10:17PM the mark left particularly early, probably due to the louder than usual music.

Naruto followed the man from a fair distance. He had several clones in the area under disguise, though he had to be frugal with the way he managed his chakra. Kusagakure undoubtedly had some kind of barrier set up to detect, monitor and track chakra signatures. If he allowed his large reserves to go unchecked he would be found out in a matter of seconds. Fortunately Hiruzen had taught him how to more efficiently manage his innate talent to suppress his vast amount of chakra.

'And now we take a right,' Naruto thought as he stalked his mark. 'Huh?' Much to his surprise the man took a left turn instead and continued down the opposite direction. 'Is he so drunk he doesn't even know the way home?' He briefly considered it but dismissed the notion. He had see Hajime Isao consume his own weight in alcohol, the man was anything but a lightweight. Perhaps he was aware he was being tailed? It was a scary thought and an all too real possibility. 'No,' Naruto shook his head. 'He doesn't know I'm here.'

He didn't know why he was sure of it, there was a good chance he was being set up for a trap after all, though he argued with himself that if he was being lured into a trap then surely his mark wouldn't have risked potentially spooking him like this by taking the opposite turn? It wouldn't make much sense… Right?

As he continued to debate the merits of staying on his mark, the man stopped by a late-night pharmacy stand and offered the vendor a ticket he withdrew from his pocket. The vendor in return handed him a bag in return and bid him goodnight, though not without complaining about his patron's tardiness as he began to close up.

'Strange,' Naruto thought, though he was relieved his concerns were unfounded. He wondered what the medicine was for, his man didn't look sick, at least not judging by appearance alone. Whatever it was it wasn't important so he pushed the thought away and continued to follow the man home.

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni – Black Site 341)

"Get him on his feet and put the binders on him."

"Are we moving him?

Jiraiya hung from the ceiling with his arms spread. He looked in even worse shape as the black site supervisor entered and gave instructions to his guard. After he killed the last interrogator he'd been on the receiving end of several beatings that had left him looking even worse, though it was mostly just fresh lesions, bruises and a broken rib or two. It wasn't anything he could handle.

The supervisor, Kei, glanced to the Toad Sage, and then nodded once. "Yes. Sōgen-sama's orders."

"I was just getting used to this place," Jiraiya said tauntingly.

"Why?" the guard asked.

"Don't question orders," the site supervisor said threateningly. He stopped by the door, looking to his prisoner for a moment.

"You looked scared, Kei-chan," Jiraiya said grinning menacingly. "Did your master mention why you're moving me after a year? Maybe found more competent interrogators, huh?"

"Silence!" The guard reared back a whip, but the supervisor stopped with a raised hand, and looked the Toad Sage in the eye, _smiling_. "You might have some company soon."

"So the kid is on a warpath, huh?" Jiraiya burst out in loud, heartily laughter much to the Kusa-nin's confusion. "You poor fools, you don't know who you pissed off, do you?" Jiraiya curled his awkwardly curved broken fingers; they were amongst his latest injuries.

The site supervisor snarled at the guard. "Get ready to move him!"

-ooo-

(Late at Night: Kusagakure)

The lights went out.

Standing in the alley under heavy downpour Naruto waited a few more minutes. It had taken his mark a longer time than usual to call it a night. He was completely drenched from top to bottom but he hadn't left his position since, not even when the thunderclaps began. Several clones were stationed nearby carrying additional infiltration toads just in case.

'Now,' he decided, making a straight line from the alley up the steps of the two-story apartment complex. He stopped and listened by the door. He'd broken into many places before in Konoha as a child, mostly when he was bored and had nobody to play with, which was a lot of the time, so he had gotten pretty good at picking locks. Though it had been a while. Fortunately he had waited long and patiently and could afford to take his time.

The door opened with a soft _click._

Naruto pushed in slowly and closed the door behind him.

_Click._

He threw back his hood and looked across the hall. There was nothing noteworthy; some cheap art and withering flowers. He moved to the living room. Oddly enough it was tidy and the smell of alcohol was nowhere to be found. Next was the kitchen. It too was clean. There weren't even dirty plates or utensils out. He resisted the urge to help himself to leftovers and moved on. His stomach growled but it could wait.

He froze as he heard the soft sounds of snoring coming from a room he passed on his way to the bedroom. _Odd. _

The kodachi glinted under the rays of moonlight that penetrated through the blinds and drapes. He pushed the door and silently entered the second bedroom. Sure enough he found his man soundly asleep on a futon.

Naruto released a deep breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He gave himself a moment to steel his resolve and threw up his hood again before kneeling by the man. His hand covered the man's mouth and his sword lingered mere centimeters from his jugular.

Hajime Isao woke up with a startled look in his eyes.

"_Not a sound or you die,_" Naruto whispered in a voice so cold and threatening part of him didn't recognise it for his own. "You try to move or make a sound and I _will _kill you. Blink twice if you understand."

Isao blinked twice. His eyes were filled with shock and fear.

"Good," Naruto whispered slowly. "Before you get any smart ideas I am not alone. There is no escape for you. If you try anything you _will _die. Fortunately for you I have absolutely no intention of killing you if you do as I say. Blink twice if you understand."

Isao blinked twice again.

Naruto lifted his hand and rose. "On your feet," he ordered with a gesture of his sword. "To the kitchen, now. Keep your hands where I can see them or you lose them."

As he said the words the same part of him asked: 'Who am I?'

Isao did as told and moved with arms raised over his head. "Please," the Kusa-nin began to plead. "I don't know who you are or why you're here but-"

"Good, let's keep it that way," Naruto cut him off as they entered the kitchen. "Sit." He pushed the intelligence officer into a chair by the kitchen counter. "Hajime Isao, correct?"

Isao nodded nervously. "Ye- Yes."

"You're an intelligence officer at the headquarters in the military district. Don't try to deny it, I already know that for a fact," he said before the man could say otherwise. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Uh, check the fridge."

Naruto looked around a found a light switch. He flipped it on and moved to the fridge with his sword still leveled at the man. "I need information."

"I don't know if I can help you," Isao said immediately. "I'm an intelligence officer, I won't deny that, but our intelligence network is very compartmentalised so I don't know if-"

"Is this red bean paste still good?" Naruto retrieved a plastic container from the fridge and put it on the counter.

"Uh, yeah. I mean I think so."

Naruto found a spoon in a draw, noting he saw no knives or even forks, and peeled the lid off. "Smells pretty good to me." He began to dig in though his eyes didn't leave Isao.

"Aren't you going to heat that up?"

"No." Despite it being cold it was still edible. Hunger made even raw beans taste sweet. "About a year ago Sōgen took Jiraiya of the Sannin for captive. I need to know where he is being held."

Isao visibly tensed. "I don't know anything about that."

"You really don't want to be lying to me right now," Naruto warned coldly. "You work at the village HQ. There is no way you didn't receive any word on that."

"Look, I haven't received any transmissions myself," Isao stammered nervously. "It's against protocol to even ask about what anyone else has received. That being said I did hear rumours."

"Start talking."

"O- Okay. So the rumour goes like this. Sōgen-sama called for a summit to discuss matters above my pay grade. There was supposedly a spy at the meeting," Isao swallowed hard under his gaze. "The spy was supposedly betrayed by one of the people there. The _rumour _says the spy Jiraiya the Gallant. Sōgen supposedly defeated Jiraiya and had him dragged off to a black site for torture and interrogation."

Naruto chewed in silence as he processed the information. So it was true, Jiraiya had been taken. And his own friend betrayed him… He pushed that matter aside, he would deal with Ishigakure later.

"Look, that's all I know, I swear!" Isao promised frantically, put off by his silence. "Please, you have to believe me. I don't know anything else!"

"Keep your voice down," Naruto hissed angrily tossing the food aside and closing the distance between them. He grabbed Isao by the neck and lent him over the countertop. "Where is he being held? _Tell me._"

"I don't know!" Isao gurgled between gasps for air. "I swear!"

His grip tightened. "I don't believe you." He lifted the man of his feet and dangled him several inches off the ground. "I don't believe for one second you don't know anything!"

"Who're you?"

Naruto froze, his eyes wide with shock as he turned and found a little boy in pajamas hugging a stuffed animal. He looked frail and sickly with tubes still attached to his arms.

"Let my daddy go!" the little boy demanded.

Lightning followed by the rumbling of thunder and Isao's foot in his face sent him stumbling back in a dazed state. It hadn't hurt particularly but it was most unexpected. By the time he had regained his bearings Isao had grabbed his discarded sword and charged at him. Naruto reacted in the nick of time and managed to stop him. It should have been easy for him to disarm the man but there was such pure and instinctual desperation born from paternal instinct in Isao's eyes that Naruto couldn't ignore as they struggled. The little boy watched on as their struggle across the kitchen sent pots and pans clattering and plates and glass shattering to the floor.

"Stop struggling! I'm not going to kill you unless you force me to!"

"Run!" Isao shouted. There wasn't even a hint of concern for his own safety in his voice. "RUN!"

'Damn it!' Naruto lost his patience very quickly and their struggled ended as abruptly as it had started. "Shit!"

Isao lay bleeding on the floor, blood pouring from the stab wound to his lower abdomen. The little boy began to scream.

Naruto felt his insides go cold. He looked to the little boy crying loudly. "I didn't mean to…" He felt a cold grip on his heart. Why was the kid here? Why the hell was his mark out drinking late at night when he had a sick kid at home? It didn't make any sense. The boy continued to cry loudly over his father's body.

For a moment time seemed to stop as Naruto's mind wandered.

_"Why do you think we fight, Naruto-kun?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"For country and village! Isn't that what they taught you in the academy, to put the village before yourself and the country before the village? What do you think it means?"_

_"I don't know. To fight for the greater good, I guess."_

_"Ah, _the greater good_… You know, I've always hated that phrase. Naturally, being Hokage meant I had to make decisions under this notion that the means would be justified if it served some bigger purpose, but it never sat well with me."_

_"You're confusing me old man."_

_"Picture this then, Naruto-kun. You are fighting a war, bravely and patriotically. For country and village, no? Can you justify the killing of others knowing that while your country may benefit of the war, your victory only adds to an endless cycle of conflict, of pain and misery. We kill them. They kill us. And for what, what is it all for? Do we fight so that one day the loved ones of those we kill exact revenge on those we love?"_

_"I…"_

_"Don't know? I didn't expect you to, Naruto-kun. These are simply the reflections of an old man whose time has long since passed him. If there is one thing I want to teach you, Naruto-kun, more than anything, more than any number of jutsu, it is that you should look to the actions of your predecessors and learn from them."_

_"You're talking about, what was it that Jiraiya called it?"_

_"The cycle of hatred."_

And he was back.

He found his wits and knew what to do. No matter what he wouldn't rob the boy of his father. Not today. Not like this. He wouldn't allow his actions give birth to another sworn enemy of Konoha. "It's okay, kid."

The boy screamed when he picked him up but there was no time to waste. He struck the boy with a light chop to the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. He put him down in a corner and took a deep breath. His hand sparked green with medical ninjutsu chakra. He was far from an expert, he was hardly proficient, but he knew the basics, and with enough chakra that would do.

"My son…" Isao groaned barely conscious and gripped his hand.

Naruto shook him off. "He's fine."

"Why are you doing this?"

"If it were just you, I'd let you die," Naruto said harshly. It was the truth. Had it been just the intelligence officer, he would have killed him without hesitation and moved on. "But I'd rather not have to kill your kid some years down the line. That's the only reason I'm sparing you."

"Thank you…"

"I'm not doing this for you." Naruto applied pressure to the wound with his chakra-coated hand as he pulled out the sword. "Tell me what you know."

"I don't know much, I swear… But I do know Jiraiya the Gallant is still alive." Isao grimaced with pain. "I hear they haven't been able to break him, not even after all this time. That's all I know… I swear…"

Naruto didn't acknowledge the man, though he felt a pinch of relief to hear confirmation his godfather still lived, and that he continued to endure. He finished patching up the intelligence officer and rose to his feet. "Don't make me regret doing this." Naruto turned around and headed towards the exit.

"He knows… you're here…" Isao whispered on the verge of slipping into unconsciousness.

Naruto didn't know why that didn't surprise him at least a little. He simply nodded at he headed out. "When you wake up grab your kid and get _far _from here."

…

Moments later Naruto was running through alleys again, his footsteps silent and not making a sound as he raced through the shadows towards the heart of the village.

Sōgen knew he was here? He knew that already. Of course he knew. He might have infiltrated the village but he wasn't the spy Jiraiya was, and even Jiriaya had been found out when he spied on the Hidden Grass.

No, Naruto hadn't been so arrogant or foolish to think he could evade detection indefinitely. He knew going in that it was only a matter of time before they found him out, and until they did he would do his best to cover Jiraiya's location.

His time was up.

There was only escape now. Jiraiya would have likely been moved to a more secure location by now. He had failed to rescue his godfather.

Naruto swallowed the bitterness, and the self-loathing, ruthlessly pushing his emotions down as he blitzed past several oblivious Kusa-nin. He might have failed but he wasn't done in the village yet.

There was still something he had to do.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Tsunade massaged her temples in between dealing with paperwork. It was nearly morning and she was _still_ hard at work. The fact entire village (and country) was set on combat ready status didn't mean there would be less of it. It was actually the opposite. Last minute authorisations forms, schedule changes, equipment orders and quota reports – there simply wasn't an end to the files upon files that were coming in. Every last bureaucratic order was being crammed in one day.

"Tsunade-sama?"

The Godaime hadn't even noticed her apprentice enter her office. Kakashi would have cried his heart out if he were there. It was rather worrying but she ignored it. "What is it, Sakura?"

"You're busy, I can come back later," the rosette offered.

"No," Tsunade said a tad too quickly. Her student was a welcome distraction. "What is it?"

Sakura considered her words carefully. "Tsunade-sama, what are we going to do if Naruto doesn't come back?"

"Why do you ask?" Tsunade's expression turned mildly suspicious. "We'll disavow him, of course. He's just a chūnin, we can't go to war over him."

"I see…" Sakura looked downcast.

Tsunade crossed her arms and leant back. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"I don't know… I'm sorry for bothering you, Tsunade-sama." Sakura bowed her head and turned to leave. Her hand gripped the door handle. 'What am I doing?' she thought to herself.

"You know, don't you?" Tsunade prompted her to turn around. "About the Kyūbi and Naruto, I mean. You're not a very good liar, Sakura."

"I only had my suspicions, Tsunade-sama," Sakura tried anyway, though not for own sake, but rather that of Shikamaru who had included her in his theory. "So Naruto really is a…"

"A jinchūriki, yes," Tsunade nodded, smiling for some reason unknown to her protégé. "Then you know why it's important we get him back."

"I have a lot to apologise for to him," Sakura said with her head hung in shame.

"This entire country does, Sakura," Tsunade said neutrally. She didn't known all the facts but she did know her student hadn't always been as protective of the jinchūriki as she was now. "People change, Sakura, and I know for a fact you have. You'll have your chance to make it up to him when he gets back, which he _will._ I'm sure he'd be happy to know you're worried about him."

"We all are," Sakura nodded. "Even Sasuke, not that he'd admit it, but I can tell he's worried too."

Tsunade sighed. "I know what that's like…"

"He'll definitely come back home safely, right?" Sakura asked, hoping that her teacher would provide some assurances, though she knew it was childish of her. "Naruto has trained under Sandaime-sama, he should be really strong, right?"

"There are a lot of strong people out there, Sakura," Tsunade reminded her as she stood up to stretch her legs. "I'm sure he'll come back with that same old goofy grin of his. I'll make sure to knock the shit out of him when he does."

Sakura giggled a little. "I should go find Rei-san tomorrow. She must be worried sick about him."

"You should go do that, she can probably use a friend now. It can't be easy being involved with that blond idiot," Tsunade encouraged the rosette. "Now, off with you. I've got work to do."

"Got it, Tsunade-sama," Sakura was once again the door, though before she left, a pillar of smoke appeared before them and a small and elderly, toad in a black cloak hopped on Tsunade's desk.

"Fukasaku-sama?" the Godaime said surprised.

**"Tsunade-chan, I have urgent news." **Fukasaku said gravely.

-ooo-

(Kusagakure Headquarters)

Sōgen looked over the village from behind his office windows, arms folded behind his back, his wrinkled visage in a thoughtful expression. He usually wasn't up this late, he was too old for such unhealthy sleeping habits, but tonight was different. Something was about to happen. He could feel it. Whatever it was, it was going to be… problematic.

The door to his office opened and a middle-aged kunoichi wearing a bandana to cover her hair and the standard Kusagakure attire entered; she was heavily scarred in the face. As the personal assistant to the Shogun she was the only one in the village that could enter his office without explicit permission. "Sōgen-sama."

"Natsuki, what is it?"

"There was a disturbance at the residence of one our intelligence operatives," the assistant reported apprehensively. "The operative was injured but is in stable condition. It appears the intruder is on the move, sir."

Suddenly the bad feeling in Sōgen's stomach made sense. He had been content with a monster hiding in his village, unbeknownst that his presence known to others, for it would only make it easier to trap it. Now that the monster had no reason to hide in the shadows, there was no telling what would happen.

Sōgen turned to his assistant. "Natsuki-" Before he could even feel his sentence he knew it was too late.

No, he _felt it._

_A gigantic chakra suddenly spiked throughout the village._

-ooo-

(Kusagakure Skies)

Several hundred feet in the air Naruto stood on the back of Senzaru. He began to spike his chakra. There was an odd, dampened look in his eyes. Their usual spark was gone, and replaced by a darker, colder look that only hinted at the cold rage he felt inside his heart. His melancholic rage was not lost on the falcon.

'I'm sorry, Jiraiya.' His fist shook uncontrollably as he looked down to the village. 'I couldn't save you this time, but I'll come back for you. I promise.'

Until that time came though, he would show Sōgen that there was every reason to fear Konoha. He would show the entire would that the Hidden Leaf was not to be trifled with. No one would ever hurt those he cared about ever again. He wouldn't allow it.

Perhaps _this_ would shatter their resolve to challenge Konoha, maybe then there wouldn't have to be a war.

**"Are you sure about this, Naruto-sama?" **Senzaru asked tentatively. The falcon was beyond terrified of its summoner, whose chakra had lost all warmth and brightness and turned cold like the quiet before the storm. **"I sent word to Father but there is still time to-"**

"I'm sure, Senzaru." Naruto placed both thumbs under his fangs and bit down. Hard. The pain barely registered as he began to form a string of hand seals. "I'm going to show them that Konoha still has a monster they can fear."

Naruto leapt off the falcon's back and began to plummet to the ground. The tiny village quickly became bigger and bigger as he soared through the air in straight trajectory for the heart of the military district. It was time. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Tremendous volumes of chakra surged through his arms and gave way to one gigantic cloud of smoke over the village as gigantic toads and falcons fitted in battle armour descended upon the military district. "GO WILD!"

The gigantic toads came down crashing into buildings, instantly flattening them as they grabbed their weapons and shields and unanimously roared as one.

**"FOR GAMAKEN!"**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

Hoho, I know, I'm bastard for ending it on a cliffie, but have no fear, the next chapter should be out soon.

I'm curious to find out what you guys thought of the chapter. You guys seemed very pleased with the last chapter (and the number of reviews reflect that) so here's hoping I can keep it going.

Unfortunately for Jiraiya, he won't be rescued so soon. That's not to say all of this is for nothing, of course. It certainly isn't just to show off how much of a bad ass Naruto has become after year of training under the Sandaime. If you've made it this far into the story than you should know by now that I like to explore the far-reaching consequences of actions. In this chapter, the prospect of Naruto on a warpath on his lonesome yet still putting the entire village at risk has the country's leading figures on edge. The entire village itself is splitting in support and opposition of Naruto's actions, which _will _have consequences good, bad and in between.

Anyway, you'll find out more about that in the upcoming chapters. It's been a while since I wrote some but I hope I can write some epic fights scenes for the next chapter. Kumo Nin readers in particular will like it, I think.

I've been giving Sakura more screen time lately, little by little, which really isn't for any other reason other than the fact that I'd like to try and redeem her character. If there's one thing Kishimoto really screwed up in my opinion it's Sakura. She was a bad ass at the start of Part II before the relegated to cheerleader/damsel in distress. I know he's tried to fix that lately, better late than never I guess, but I'm going to try and mold her into a character that's both likeable and useful.

Anyway, that's all for now. Next chapter should be up soon. If you get restless for more you can give The Uzumaki Descendant a try while you wait.


	24. Chapter 24: Warpath

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 23-02-14_

**_The Windmill Turns Both Ways by Blaizekit is awesome. You should give it a try. Also, I've been working on numerous other stories that I probably will start posting after I update TUD a few more times so look forward to that if you aren't sick of me already._**

**_Edited by the amazingly handsome godlike A Fan1204 (his words, not mine)_**

* * *

><p>CH24: Warpath<p>

* * *

><p>(Kusagakure)<p>

**"FOR GAMAKEN!"**

The warrior toads descended from the heavens like a force of madness and destruction. They were truly fearsome behemoths, clad in thick ornate Mount Myōboku armour and helmets, clutching giant weapons and shields as they released a unanimous battle cry. The seven toads _flattened_ _entire buildings_ as they met the ground, and literally moved the earth as they sent quakes and tremors resonating throughout the entire Hidden Grass village.

Naruto followed airbone as part of a cast of seven very large peregrine falcons donning armour of their own. The falcons broke away to carry out their mayhem as he softened his descend and landed on top of Gamabunta's head.

The falcons flew overhead; some set upon the watchtowers and others plucked shinobi from the ground only to let them plummet to their deaths. Others playfully passed the shinobi around from beak to beak in the air, like predators playing with their food.

Naruto took a knee to pat the Toad Chief. "Thanks, Boss."

**"Don't worry about it, kid," **Gamabunta croaked, leading the charge amongst his warrior toads. **"Take Gamahiro and go find that son of a bitch that took Jiraiya!"**

"Gamahiro!" Naruto ran across the Toad Chieftain's arm and jumped on the dual sword-wielding toad that was his familiar. "To that building there!" he pointed towards the main building of the military district a significant distance away. "The man that took Jiraiya and killed Gamaken is there. We're going to pay him a visit!"

**"RRRBIT!" **Gamahiro croaked through flared nostrils. The toad had always looked up to Gamaken ever since he had been a little tadpole. The honour of avenging his friend was his. **"LET'S GO!"**

Naruto situated himself atop the green toad's head and nodded. They set off with frightening speed as the other toads and falcons continued to wreak havoc across the Hidden Grass village. The plan was to stay in the military district; Naruto didn't want to spill the blood of innocents, nor would he allow his summons to do so. He was relieved they had come to that understanding as the largest of the falcons, the Falcon Lord Hayatsume swooped down and crushed a Kusa-nin in his beak.

Gamahiro set off to the sky with a tremendous leap and soared. Naruto could see fires spreading throughout the entire military district as the toads demolished buildings and spat oil that they set alight with giant flints, resulting in miniature tsunamis of boiling oil sweeping across the district. Not even a shinobi village could withstand their wrath after one of their own had been slain. The Kusa shinobi scrambled still overtaken by shock and fear.

Naruto narrowed his eyes when suddenly demon face-shaped fires began to blaze at them and several narrowly missed his head. Gamahiro grunted through the pain. The jinchūriki formed a single hand seal and spat a large body of water towards the source of the onslaught. "Suijinheki!"

The Demon Lanterns continued to collide into the Water Wall as Gamahiro crashed and continued to crawl over smaller buildings towards the centre of the military district. Naruto relented his water jutsu when the fire blasts stopped. Whoever had just attacked them had suddenly given up and disappeared. He readied himself. "We're getting close, Gamahiro!"

**"We've got company!" **the dual sword-wielding toad said as giant beetle summons appeared before them crashing through buildings. **"Go! I'll take care of these two. I will meet up with you later."**

There wasn't any time to argue, so Naruto simply nodded and cast aside his poncho. He pulled his sleeves up, pressed his wrists together, and then manipulated his bracer to split into two smaller pieces that wrapped around his wrists and covered his gloves and fingers like skeletal gauntlets. They would significantly decrease the stress on his hands. It was all in preparation for his vastly improved jutsu.

'I can't thank you enough, old man.' Naruto leapt off Gamahiro's head and blasted off. "Suishin Shō!" He flew faster and higher than he could have dreamt of a year ago, and it wouldn't have been possible without the Sandaime's advice and training. His Propulsion Palm was a different beast now than it had once been.

The Kusa-nin atop the giant beetles directed their summons towards Naruto, but he simply dodged their giant limbs and flew past them.

"Tear them apart, Gamahiro!"

**"RRRBIT!"**

Naruto seemed to slow down for just a second before setting off at an even greater speed, rocketing across the military district, flying past the scattering debris and fresh fires, and a number of various insect summons that tried to swat him down on the way. He also had to dodge a fair number of ninjutsu and projectiles hurled his way, though he hardly had to try.

A fluttering noise caught his attention just in time as he banked right and looked over his shoulder.

A giant dragonfly was upon him, ridden by a Kusa-nin with white, waist-length hair covered by a green bandana. "Katon: Onidōrō!" Fiery apparitions sparked to life from thin air and gave chase.

'So it was you.' Naruto flew in an spiralling upwards trajectory, dodging the Demon Lanterns with relative ease at the start given their unimpressive speed, but it quickly became increasingly more difficult as more and more of the apparitions bore after him like heat seekers. Maybe that's what they were, who knew, he sure as hell didn't. He couldn't waste any time. Gamahiro hadn't stayed behind for nothing!

Naruto slowed down as he began to gain even more altitude with one hand whilst he charged chakra to his right hand. "Fūton: Senpūken!" He turned and punched the air as he directed his Whirlwind Fist to collide with the Demon Lanterns, setting off a chain reaction of explosions forming into one and fizzling with a blanket of smoke.

In the spur of the moment, Naruto followed his instincts and flew towards the source of fiery apparitions using the smoke as cover. The Kusa-nin hadn't anticipated his sudden turn, much less the kick in the face sending them flying off the giant dragonfly. Much to Naruto's own surprise the Kusa-nin didn't go down without a flight and managed to fire a few more Demon Lanterns that caught him off guard and nearly cost him a lot more than merely the hem of his sleeve.

The dragonfly swung its long abdomen and dove to catch its summoner. Moments later they were upon him again, firing away with fire jutsu that became increasingly more dangerous, as different colours of Demon Lanterns gave chase.

As if the regular red flame lanterns weren't a pain enough in the way that they multiplied and acted like heat seekers, the blue laterns were especially fast, the green ones were slower but exploded with a wider range, and the yellow ones were a combination of speed and explosions that had a shorter lifespan. Suffice to say, his opponent was a pain, and was going to be bother until neutralised, so Naruto decided to do just that, by slowing down and landing atop an abandoned watchtower.

"Giving up, intruder?" the Kusa-nin called as the dragonfly hovered above him. "A wise decision. Call off your summons and surrender!"

Naruto got a better look at his harasser, a kunoichi with waist-length white hair covered by a green bandana and odd grey eyes with circular patterns. She wore black shinobi trousers, a beige sleeveless kimono over a green top with only one long sleeve covering her left arm, both of which were covered in bandages up to her elbows. **(1)**

Naruto patted the singed frays of his tunic, putting out a few embers that managed to latch onto him. "You're persistent, I'll give you that."

"And you're quite foolish if you think you can attack Kusagakure and get away with it!" the kunoichi shot back standing on the dragonfly's back.

"Listen, I'm in a hurry, so tell you what, you stay out of my way and I won't kill you," Naruto offered straightforwardly, knowing she'd be probably be insulted more than anything but giving it a try nonetheless. The clock was ticking. "Maybe after I'm done tearing Sōgen limb from limb we can pick up where we left off. What do you say?"

"You impudent little shit!"

A clone jumped out of nowhere behind his harrasser, hands clasped together and head rearing back as it suddenly, with greater speed than the kunoichi could have anticipated, spat a great volume of mud, aiming not for her, but rather the dragonfly she rode. "Doryū Taiga!"

The kunoichi discarded the clone with a kunai but the damage was done, so she jumped off the flying insect and let it return to from whence it came to save chakra. Naruto met her on the ground and wasted no time in overpowering her with sheer brute strength and brutality. He broke through her guard like a wrecking ball and threw her aside to a sprawl on the ground. He twisted her arms behind back with one hand and held a kunai to her throat in the other. He rose the blade and was about to bring it down to impale the back of her skull, but found himself unable to go through with it when he saw her peculiar eyes fraught with fear.

It shouldn't have made a difference to him, he should've been able to kill her and be done with it, but no matter how much he willed himself to do it he simply couldn't.

"Ah, fuck it!" He knocked her out instead, with a blow to the back of the head and got off her.

Mighty caws rang through the sky as he found the falcons revelling in their air superiority over the ground forces of Kusa-nin. They reminded him what he was there for, who his real enemy was. He hadn't come to Kusa to take lives he didn't need to take. That wasn't him, it simply wasn't in his nature, and he would never allow it to be.

His true enemy was just one man, and if he could just take out Sōgen then maybe Kusa would know better than to provoke Konoha, perhaps then there wouldn't be a war, and the lives he did take today would be… _justified _in the end.

-ooo-

(Amegakure)

Pain stood atop the tongue of the north-facing humanoid face of his tower, his eyes focused on the far distance where he knew Kusa no Kuni to be. Akatsuki's intelligence network had passed word of the presence Konoha's jinchūriki in Kusa some time ago. The god of pain had been pensive ever since. He could feel something was coming, something he couldn't fully anticipate or even understand. He had a feeling it had something to do with the jinchūriki in Kusa. "This could be problematic."

"What is it, Nagato?" Konan called from behind him in the tower. She preferred to stay out of the rain lest it ruin her paper.

"I don't know," Pain said through the mouth of Yahiko. The reanimated body looked confused on his part. "It's as though there is a haze in front of me that not even I can see through clearly. I feel as though I am close to it, as though it is a familiar feeling but… its true nature eludes me."

"Is it the Kyūbi jinchūriki?" the paper goddess asked.

Pain didn't answer at first. It was a question he did not know the answer to. Was it the jinchūriki of Konoha? Surely not. What was so special about the boy to begin with? He hesitated to dismiss it outright. After all, what had been so special about him before he awakened the Rinnegan, before he became a god?

"Perhaps," he conceded after a long pause. "Send word to Kakuzu. I want him to go to Kusa. We've bided our time long enough. He is to see to it the jinchūriki is brought here alive for extraction. We shall begin collecting the bijū with the Kyūbi."

"Is that all?"

"Yes," Pain said as the angel began to dissolve into countless sheets of paper and took flight.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

"_He's attacking Kusa?_" Tsunade could hardly believe her ears. Her eyes were set in a wide stare. "_Now?_"

Fukasaku nodded gravely. **"He contacted Gamabunta and Hayatsume of the falcons about an hour ago for their support in this, ahem, _siege_. Naturally Gamabunta accepted and took six of his finest warriors with him. I believe the Falcon Lord has matched that number with his honour guard."**

"I don't even know why I'm surprised!" Tsunade began to pace about her office, biting her thumbnail in thought. She thought she would be ready for this, to hear that Naruto had done something so outrageous and dangerous it would force her to react, but of all things he she considered he would do, she hadn't anticipated he would _openly attack an entire shinobi village by himself._ That was lunacy. "He must have realised he couldn't rescue Jiraiya, so he thought he'd go for the next best thing: Sōgen's head."

**"This is very serious," **Fukasaku said, a frown on his wrinkled green skin. **"The falcons and toads are both represented as part of the Twelve Deva. The war of your kind may very well spread to the animal kingdoms."**

Sakura stood stunned up until that moment, and was brought out of her haze of confusion and shock only by the prospect of new knowledge. "The Twelve Deva?"

"It's a special council in the animal kingdoms considered to be the highest authority. Whatever they say goes." Tsunade found distraction from her concerns in giving the explanation. "Konoha is particularly lucky to be associated with four of the twelve Devas: the apes, the toads, the slugs, and now, through Naruto, the falcons. We used to have the snakes on our side until that slimy bastard Orochimaru defected."

**"Due to the nature of summoning contracts between humans and animals, sometimes human conflicts become ours and sometimes the opposite applies," **Fukasaku supplied helpfully. The old toad's frown deepened. **"I fear such a time is upon us."**

"How is Naruto pulling all this off by himself?" Sakura asked whilst her master continued to pace around in her thoughts. "I know he trained under Sandaime-sama but it's only been a year."

**"I have yet to meet him myself but Enma-sama speaks very highly of him, which is rare in and of itself," **Fukasaku said looking away from Tsunade. **"If I were you, young lady," **the toad looked to Sakura now, **"I would forget all preconceived notions you have of him." **

Sakura nodded dumbly. It was a lot to take in to say the least. The last time she had seen her former teammate he was fighting Sasuke. A year later and he was fighting a shinobi village. _By himself._ It was mindboggling to think he could have improved so much in such a short time. Then she remembered he was a jinchūriki, and that he always been full of surprises, and that he was the type that could push boundaries and shatter limits for the sake of others like he had done when he took on Gaara to save her. If he had gone so far for her, then there was no doubt he would do the same for Jiraiya.

"I can use this," Tsunade realised suddenly as she stopped pacing about her office and went to her desk. "Sakura go fetch Shizune."

"Tsunade-sama?"

"Now," the Godaime ground out urgently. "I can use this. I'm going to punch the living hell out of him when I see him but I can use this."

Sakura didn't know what her master was talking about but decided it was best she not ask and nodded as she left the office.

**"What are you doing, Tsunade-chan?"** Fukasaku asked of her.

"Following Naruto's example," Tsunade smiled outwardly as she sat down and began to draft a letter. "We can't stop Naruto from attacking Kusa but we sure as hell as can make it look as though it were sanctioned."

**"That'll put Kusa's allies at great unease,"** Fukasaku caught on quickly. The old toad smiled slyly. **"You're a devious one, Tsunade-chan."**

"I make do with what I've got," Tsunade smirked back.

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Sōgen watched the chaos and mayhem unfold from his office window as the warrior toads and falcons wreaked havoc upon his beloved village. He stood silent and unmoving, his arms folded behind his back as he observed the devastation unfold. The entire building shook under the weight of warrior toads and the aerial assaults unleashed by the falcons that crashed into his towers and used the sizeable chunks of concrete as payloads.

"Sōgen-sama," the Hidden Grass leader's secretary spoke up. "What are your orders?"

"The men know what to do." Sōgen didn't turn to look at his secretary, he was more preoccupied with the enormous chakra signal coming him his way at an increasingly faster pace. "Natsuki, you should get somewhere safe."

"My place is with you, Sōgen-sama," the proud Kusa kunoichi stood firm. "I will never leave your side."

Sōgen looked over his shoulder, a kind smile on his scarred face. "Thank you, Natsuki. Now that I think about it there is something you could do for me."

"Anything, Sōgen-sama."

The Hidden Grass leader looked through the window one last time as Konoha's jinchūriki landed.

-ooo-

(Kusagakure Military District Courtyard)

Naruto touched down lightly in the courtyard leading to the headquarters. He immediately felt watched and searched the building. An elderly man stood by the window looking down upon him. He was a tall, old man with white hair and tan skin covered in scars. The man looked at him for a moment and then turned away, disappearing from sight.

'Sōgen.'

He started to approach the building with purpose in his steps.

The sealing arrays began to glow alerting guards and activated defence mechanisms. He could have exercised finesse and stealth to avoid setting them off, but there was no need for it. Now that he had seen the man that had taken Jiraiya and had threatened the lives of _his people _his mind was elsewhere.

He felt neither anger nor resentment, there was no fear or fury in his steps, there was only the objective and calm resolution to carry it out.

'_This man has to die._' It had nothing to do with revenge anymore. As Uzumaki Naruto, he wanted nothing more than to avenge Jiraiya. As Konoha's jinchūriki he knew Shogun no Sōgen had to die in order to prevent the deaths of countless others.

It was all so simple, so clear.

He was in a state of calm, or as Hiruzen would often to refer to it "switched on" – it was a state of mind he rarely entered of his own volition, one that he was never truly aware of until after it had happened, one that he usually only entered in his initial jinchūriki mode when his body and mind could not keep up with Kyūbi's influences and instinctively compensated by pushing aside all emotions and distractions so that he could remain calm and collected - _focused_. **(2)** The few times he had managed to enter such a zone of pure concentration of focus on his own occurred during his training under Hiruzen. That usually meant mastering a difficult jutsu or going all out during one of their more intense spars. Hiruzen had told him that his mother had been much the same. Uzumaki Kushina, in defiance of her Uzumaki heritage, was never one for studying, but could concentrate and engage with any subject matter better than anyone else when she needed to.

As Naruto began to approach he knew he was ready to fight.

So when the paved ground began to shake and give form to a giant warrior of solid rock, he calmly maintained his step, holding out his clenched fist, which he then used to blitz _through_ the stone giant, causing chunks of rock and dirt to explode and scatter.

He was no Tsunade but one didn't train with the apes of Mount Kongōurin without gaining some significant physical strength.

Naruto touched the ground lightly and continued to approach the building. He waved his hand and redirected bolts of lightning with wind manipulation, and then formed three hand seals for an Earth Wall jutsu that usually required twelve to defend him from a series of cutting wind blasts that chipped away at his wall before eventually subsiding as the seal responsible ran out of chakra and had to recharge.

The defence mechanisms subsided as dozens of guards came marching his way. There were forty of them and only one him, and yet they were both outmatched _and _outnumbered beyond hope.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto created fifty clones, though only half advanced to meet the Kusa-nin head on. The rest kneeled and began to channel chakra into the ground. Hiruzen had been adamant he learn how to dismantle fūinjutsu, and now he saw the value of that lesson. He doubted the seals around the headquarters had been created with bijū chakra in mind.

As his clones focused their attention on corroding the seals with bijū chakra he disappeared from sight by means of Shunshin no Jutsu, surging into motion faster than the Kusa-nin could keep track off. A second later he kicked the guard captain in the back of the knees, forcing him to kneel while he pulled his back. Then he forced the captain's sword-wielding hand to slit his own throat.

The sword clattered to the ground and blood sprayed from the guard captain's neck as he picked the man up by his flak jacket and cast him aside like a rag doll.

In battle the loss of morale and leadership could be more detrimental than anything. Hiruzen had taught him that, and he had robbed the Kusa-nin of both simply by killing their captain.

More than a few were foolish enough to continue to attack, or perhaps it was out of instinct more than anything. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. The few that got past his clones roared as they tried to land their blows to no avail. He read the movements like an open book, swaying like a leaf in the wind to their unfocused and telegraphed movements.

Naruto unsheathed his kodachi. His blade flash into motion and seconds later a dozen bodies fell to the ground. He tore through them with ease, slice and cutting away without regard for who they were or what they felt as he cut them down.

He shut it all out.

They were simply in the way, _obstacles_ that needed to be removed from his path, whether that meant he had to push them aside or step over their corpses, it didn't matter, he simply couldn't let it, for he knew he would lose all resolve once he did.

The remaining Kusa-nin tried to fight him with ninjutsu. Streams of fire, rippling earth and jets of water were all aimed at him; he blurred out of sight, moving out of the way and repositioned behind another cluster of guards. He swung his free hand back as rippling green and white chakra flowed over his limb and grew longer and sharper. "Fūton: Senpūhoko."

Naruto impaled a guard in the back with the Whirlwind Lance and lifted him off his feet, dangling him over a pool of his own blood. He released the guard and then dispatched another three Kusa-nin. His clones made quick work of those nearby them as he stopped mere feet away from the headquarters.

One brave Kusa-nin remained standing in front his the building, his entire body shaking in absolute terror.

Naruto wordlessly ordered his fighting clones to stand back and held out his hand, charging a sizeable Rasengan.

The Kusa screamed as he made his last stand and charging at him. Naruto ducked under first strike and didn't allow him a second as he smashed the Rasengan in his chest. "Tsuihō Rasengan!" **(3)**

Naruto pushed with considerable force as the sphere of chakra expanded several hundred times upon contact with its target and barrelled towards the headquarters building with such velocity it shattered the protective fūin that were meant to keep him out.

The ensuing explosion was deafening.

A gaping hole remained where the entrance once was. Naruto blew on his steaming hand. The Banishing Rasengan was powerful but required far more physical exertion and usually would lead to mild chakra burns.

He watched his hand with interest as the skin began to mend itself.

-ooo-

(Kusagakure Headquarters)

The explosion rocked the entire building with enough force to cause grains of dust to fall from the ceiling. There was considerable chaos and fear amongst the Kusa-nin as they scrambled to get out of the way. They had seen what the Leaf's _monster _was capable of from a distance. Most of them weren't suited for combat with regular shinobi, let alone a furious jinchūriki with more chakra than all of them combined and a plethora of ninjutsu to go along with it.

"Sōgen-sama, the entrance has been destroyed!" a Kusa-nin reported frantically, barging into the office.

The Shogun stood with his back turned to the door and fitted the last of his combat attire, a pair of brown leather arm protectors over his lime green kimono. "Thank you," he nodded calmly. "Make sure you evacuate everyone."

"Understood!"

Sōgen smiled grimly. He had lived a great many years for a shinobi, fought in more than his fair share of battles, and had endured more challenges than most would in ten lifetimes, and yet, he had faced death only once before.

He had been a young man then, not much older than Uzumaki Naruto was now. Kusa no Kuni had been embroiled in civil war for several years. Countless had died in the war for the daimyō's greed and arrogance. As their numbers fell children were conscripted to fight, or die rather, as few ever survived their first battle.

Sōgen was born the youngest of five; he had three older brothers and one sister. His parents, humble farmers exempted from the war and relied upon for their produce, were given no choice but to part with at least one of their children for the sake of the war effort.

His father, a man who had rarely spoke more than a few words to him at time, had considered him the most expendable. As a quite, withdrawn boy little over ten years old he wasn't of much use compared to his older brothers, who had several years on him and could inherit their father's land and be married off.

If there was one thing Sōgen would always respect his father for, despite everything, it was for his _ruthless pragmatism._ His father had the ability to make hard decision when they had to be made for the greater good of his family. Of course, his mother had fought to keep him, as any mother would, but ultimately it was not her decision to make. To this day he vividly remembered her wailing, her tears and anguished screams as he quietly bid them farewell from the back of the cart that carried him away along with all other children of his rural neighbourhood.

Upon arriving at camp he received basic combat training. For the following two years he served in the infantry. Most children weren't expected to fight like men. No, they were far more useful as spies and messengers, and when necessary… suicide units.

Sōgen lost most of his friends in the very first battle, and to this day, nearly sixty years later, he counted it amongst his worse. It wasn't the fighting that haunted him for he did not fight in that battle. No, it was the sounds of battle, the screams and images of people bleeding and dying in the dirt, and above all, the glazed over eyes of the dead he hid under in a ditch. He held himself throughout that entire battle, shaking uncontrollably under a mound of bodies, many of which of the very same children he had set out from his village.

Three years after joining the army he was recruited by Kusagakure to join their ranks as a shinobi, alongside the few children that had survived that long. The training was brutal but those that survived it were like gods compared to mere infantrymen.

Sōgen took the shinobi arts faster and better than anyone. His potential was seemingly limitless, and so they entrusted him with the village's most coveted jutsu: the Razor Grass Dragon.

More than this strength, however, the Kusa-nin valued him for his intellect, for his devious mind, the same ruthless pragmatism his father had shown when he sent his youngest, seemingly most invaluable son to die in battle.

For the next four years he would fight as a shinobi. He quickly rose through the ranks. He was unbeatable, no one could touch him, or so he believed, until that faithful day came he finally tasted defeat.

The enemy was losing; they simply couldn't fight on equal terms with their inferior numbers of infantry and shinobi. They were desperate enough to turn to mercenaries.

Amongst the mercenaries was the one man that Sōgen had ever feared.

A man he respect to this day.

Kakuzu.

It was far from a close battle. For all his intellect and might, the young Sōgen was simply outclassed in every way. They lost the battle shortly after it began. His allies dropped like insignificant flies, insects flattened under the heel of the former Takigakure shinobi.

Eventually he, too, fell. Kakuzu would not kill him however. Perhaps he had seen something in him like the Kusa-nin had. Perhaps it was the fact he had no heart Kakuzu wanted. It certainly wasn't pity that spared him. Whatever it was, he was spared that day.

He shortly disappeared from sight after the battle was lost. Eventually the war was won, for the enemy could only afford hiring mercenaries for so long until their resources ran, and the daimyō remained supreme, until the day he too would hang on the Shogun's orders.

Though it wasn't until years later that Sōgen would reappear to claim the country, in a bloody campaign during which he was once again reunited with Kakuzu, a man he could now call his ally, who helped him become the man he was today.

'It has been many years since I first tasted defeat,' Sōgen thought as he reached for his weapon of choice, a staff with a three-pronged head and intricately designed tassels with spirals on them. 'And yet I feel the same aura in the air now as I did then.'

The Hidden Grass leader prepared himself mentally.

Natsuki would do well to carry out the task he entrusted her with. His opponent was young and inexperienced, but it was that inexperience that had allowed him to successfully cripple an entire village without reservation for tactics or fear for the consequences.

This was an enemy Sōgen knew he could not underestimate.

A haze of ash began to cloud the building and spill into the office.

-ooo-

Naruto stood by the entrance with his hands in the tiger seal. He wasn't foolish enough to enter a building that likely had defensive mechanisms of its own. No, he had kicked down the door not to enter, but rather, to announce his presence. Sōgen had yet to greet him, however, so he decided to ring the bell.

'Come and greet your guest, Sōgen,' he thought as he continued to spew a cloud of ash from his mouth.

The clones finished dismantling the sealing arrays and promptly dismissed themselves. Summoning fourteen toads and falcons took a serious toll on his chakra. He would need to save enough so he could dismiss them. The falcons would be fine without it but the toads would have a much tougher time getting home.

'Now,' he decided as he ignited the ash with his chakra and jumped back to retreat to a safe distance. "Katon: Haisekishō no Jutsu!"

A flash preceded the fiery blast that went off in the headquarters. The Ash Pile Burning set alight everything it had come into contact with. Fire roared and shattered through the windows, and erupted to the skies, raining debris over the courtyard.

Naruto dodged a few chunks of concrete. The heat was getting to him. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, eyes focused on the dark, soot-filled smoke billowing from the headquarters' ruins.

Shogun no Sōgen strode through the smoke and debris seemingly unharmed, and ready for battle now that he wore leather armour over his kimono robes, and clutched a staff in his hand.

Naruto got a good look at the man for the first time. This was the man he had come to kill, the man whose death would end the Fourth Shinobi World War before it even began. Sōgen was tall and had a slim built, one amber eye and shoulder-lengthy grey hair tied up in a ponytail and a lengthy goatee. Scars covered every inch of tan skin. He wasn't much to look at but Naruto knew better than to judge anyone by his or her appearance. There was a quiet, reserved dignity in the Shogun's steps, and an intimidating aura that shimmered in his amber coloured eye.

Sōgen stared at him as they sized up one another. Naruto was taken aback by the man's surprisingly soft tone of voice. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Sōgen," he returned with matching composure.

The Shogun looked to the distance as another tower fell to Hayatsume the Falcon Lord. "I see you have made quite a mess of my village."

Naruto held the much older shinobi's one-eyed gaze as he tried to get a read on him. "At least I've left out innocents."

"Oh?" Sōgen chuckled the same way Hiruzen did every now and then.

It infuriated Naruto that he inadvertently likened the man he despised to the man he respected the most and saw as his own grandfather.

"Do you truly believe that?" Sōgen asked with seemingly genuine curiosity. "That this will not inevitably cost the lives of innocents on both sides? Young man, you do realise your actions are a declaration of war, do you not?"

"As far as I'm concerned you declared war when you took my godfather," Naruto replied evenly. He willed himself to maintain his calm. He fought better when he kept his emotions in check.

"Your godfather?" Sōgen looked at him bemused for a moment. "I see… Regardless, the nature of your relationship matters little. It was your godfather that was caught infiltrating a closed summit between shinobi of various nations. Espionage is a part of the world we live in, this we both know, but the ramifications for being caught are rarely anything short of severe." The Shogun cleared his throat. "As far as _I _am concerned, Uzumaki Naruto, Hi no Kuni declared war on Kusa no Kuni, and now I have the justification required to marshal my allies."

Naruto shook his head smiling humourlessly. "You've got it wrong, old man."

"Oh?"

"You declared war against _me _when you took Jiraiya," Naruto stretched out his hand and called forth his chakra, molding it into a lance of white and green chakra. "It just took me a while to notice."

Sōgen raised his staff and tapped the ground. "It's fortunate I get to face you while you are still young," the amber-eyed shinobi admitted. "I would not like to know my odds if I allowed you to live to meet your potential."

Enough words had been said.

Naruto rushed forward with his Senpūhoko and clashed with a spherical barrier, mere inches away from his target. Sōgen provoked him with a smirk behind the transparent dome. Naruto pushed the Whirlwind Lance forward aggressively, sending the Hidden Grass leader flying, dome and all, into a nearby supply building.

No significant damage was done. Sōgen simply tapped the dome with his staff to repair the hairline cracks that formed, a confident smile still on his wrinkled face. "Brute force will get you nowhere, boy."

Naruto let the insult slide; he wouldn't allow it to disrupt the calm state of mind he was struggling to maintain. His opponent tapped the ground with his staff as he released his Whirlwind Lance and formed a string of hand seals. He puffed his chest seconds before he spewed a torrent of flames so great in volume it covered a third of the entire courtyard, dwarfing both of them and enveloping the entire barrier sphere. The heat alone was enough to kill a grown man.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"

"Fūka Hōin."

Black markings appeared on the dome and sucked in the flames like a vacuum.

As the flames disappeared, Sōgen remained standing unharmed, and seemingly unaffected by the heat of the flames. The barrier had protected him even from something like that, Naruto realised much to his displeasure.

"Kinjutsu, Fūton, Katon," Sōgen listed in drawl. "What will you show me next?"

Naruto summoned another lance and took off with a one-handed Propulsion Palm. He gained significant altitude and then charged towards the barrier at a sharp forty-five degree angle. At this velocity he figured he could manage enough momentum and force to do more damage than a few hairline fractures.

Much to his surprise Sōgen directed his barrier dome to take flight and met him midair. Most of Naruto phased through the barrier, with the exception of his Senpūhoko wielding hand. The sudden halt nearly yanked his arm out of its socket. It was painful enough to cancel out the jutsu and dull his reflexes a second too late as Sōgen struck him in the face with the staff and ejected him from the barrier with enough force to send him crashing to the ground.

Naruto picked himself up out of the small crater. That was going to_ hurt _in the morning. "Fūton!" He formed a single hand seal and then cocked his arm back as though he were about to throw something.

Sōgen remained floating in his barrier with watchful look in his eye. 'More imprudent ninjutsu?'

Wind began to spiral in Naruto's hand and take form of something long, thin and sharp. Naruto _gripped_ the wind and _threw it._ "Reppūyari!"

One amber eye narrowed as Sōgen sensed imminent danger. He reinforced his barrier in the nick of time as the Gale Javelin shot through the air like a bullet and made contact. The reinforced barrier seemed to be holding as the force subsided just as fast as it had struck. Sōgen sneered condescendingly for a moment, until he noticed his young opponent's satisfied grin, and a moment later, felt wetness on his cheek.

Sōgen touched his cheek with his free hand and found blood on his fingertips. 'He concentrated his previous jutsu into a focused projectile to increase its piercing power… This boy will one day be truly terrifying. I must end him now.'

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Tsunade poured over the draft on her desk. Satisfied, she leant back and read it over again, and one more time after that, nodding to herself as she read and reread the letter.

_To those who call themselves ally to Sōgen of Kusa,_

_You have mistaken us for weak and now your great allies are the first to pay the price. As you read this Kusa no Kuni reaps the consequences of their transgressions against Hi no Kuni as they deal with the aftermath of a direct and sanctioned assault upon their soil during which Kusagakure sustained considerable damage._

_Kusa cannot threaten us, and neither can you. Take this as a sign of things to come if you continue to conspire with enemies of Hi no Kuni. _

_We do not seek war when peace is beneficial for us all. We will not, however, hesitate to visit the same harm upon you as we have upon Kusa no Kuni should you continue to actively oppose us. We will strike down all those who threaten us with extreme prejudice. _

_Reconsider this foolish alliance you have struck and think of those you are charged to protect. _

_Fight us and we will break you. Seek peace and we shall gladly work with you to achieve it._

_Regards,_

_Senju Tsunade_

_Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato_

"This should do," the Godaime said as she handed the letter to Shizune. "What do you think?"

The assistant read the letter and then read it again. "A tad aggressive but given the circumstances… This will do."

"Have copies made and send them to all know villages allied with Kusa," Tsunade instructed.

Shizune nodded attaching the letter to her clipboard. "Right away, Tsunade-sama."

As the brunette left, the blonde turned to the rosette in the room. "That teammate of yours might actually have done us a favour in the long run."

"What did the letter say, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked of her master. Things had been moving very fast in the last thirty minutes. She had a hard time following any of it. "If you don't mind my asking," she remembered her manners.

"Good ol' fashioned schoolyard bullying, Sakura," Tsunade said grinning mischievously. "They came for our lunch money but we brought a stick."

Sakura smiled dryly, not quite getting understanding. "I'm not sure I understand, Tsunade-sama."

"Let me put it this way, if Kusa and their allies are the bullies…"

"Naruto is the stick," Sakura finished catching on.

The Godaime nodded. "Let's hope he's a big enough stick to crack some skulls. It might save lives in the long run. _A lot of lives_."

The door opened and Shizune returned, though she wasn't alone. The advisers Homura and Koharu accompanied here with matching looks of disdain.

"What's going on?" Tsunade asked looking at her assistant directly.

"That's our line, Tsunade," Koharu cut in holding the drafted letter in her wrinkly hand. "What is the meaning of this?"

Tsunade's voice took an icy tone. "You harass my assistant and intercept my correspondence and _you dare_ to demand what the meaning is?" The Slug Sannin slowly rose out of her chair. "Return it," she commanded with an outstretched hand. She had had just about enough of these two old crows meddling with her affairs. "_Now._"

"You're about to declare war to numerous nations at once," Homura protested with added derision. "What kind of Hokage would act so foolishly?"

"You have _exactly_ five seconds before I take your actions as treason," Tsunade warned stepping from behind her desk. "You two have been regretting your decision to sponsor me for the seat since I got here, and you've been trying to sabotage me ever since…"

"That is simply untrue!" Koharu denied.

"I'm not finished," Tsunade said coldly. "Out of respect for Hiruzen-sensei I put up with you, but now my patience has run out, so heed my words carefully," she squared off directly with the advisers. "If you make me count to five I will have the two of you executed this very afternoon."

"Preposterous!" Homura objected. "You are-"

Tsunade tilted her head as though daring him to finish that thought. "One."

"You think you can threaten us?" Koharu challenged.

"Two."

"We will _not _be coerced into submission," Homura added.

Tsunade continued to count without hesitation. "Three."

The advisers looked at one another perturbed.

"Four."

Homura decided to swallow his pride and took the paper from Koharu and surrendered it to Tsunade's outstretched hand. "This is not over."

"No," Tsunade handed the letter back to the Shizune. "No, it's not." She sat back down behind her desk. "Tread carefully. My patience with the both of you is officially up."

Shizune closed the door behind her as she left.

A considerable tension remained between the Hokage and the advisers. Sakura felt more than a little out of place in the room after what had just transpired. Her respect for her master had skyrocketed from admiration and adoration to sheer _reverence_, but at the same time she had seen the elders blink first. She had witnessed an embarrassment that would surely come back to bite her if she divulged any of this to anyone.

Sakura just wished something would happen to dispel the tension. The silent animosity was palpable.

As if to grant her wish Fukasaku reappeared with another puff of smoke carrying a sizeable crystal ball.

**"We have footage!" **The toad declared putting the crystal ball down on the desk. **"Ōgama-sama has allowed us to view the battle with him." **

Sakura hid her sigh of relief as her master and the adviser turned their attention to the toad.

Fukasaku meddled with the crystal ball for a moment as he set it up. It took longer than expected from the looks of it as the toad grew agitated enough to bang the sphere a few times.

Images began to flicker in the crystal. The images were hazy at first and improved only marginally but it was better than nothing.

**"There," **the toad hopped out of the way as they all peered into the crystal ball. **"The image is not as crisp as I would like but Mount Myōboku is many leagues from here."**

What they saw was shocking to all of them.

Naruto was in the midst of heated combat with an old man in a protective sphere. He was flying and hurling ninjutsu as they clashed. The surrounding buildings were either in ruins or bathing in flames. Giant falcons and toads wreaked havoc in the background.

It was an image of pure chaos.

"We can't hear them," Tsunade bit her thumbnail frowning. "He seems to be holding his ground."

Sakura's eyes widened when she got a good look at Naruto. He had changed rather significantly. He was much taller than she remembered him, and his hair had grown longer. She had to squint her eyes but she could tell his face had matured also. He looked much different from the boy she knew when they were growing up.

"Is that really Naruto?" She had to ask.

"I don't know, Sakura," Tsunade said dryly looking turning to her pupil. "Do you happen to know any other loud blond idiots picking fights with village leaders that haven't been sighted in public for years?"

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Something had changed.

Whether it was the fact the village leader was tired of him or because he had made him bleed, Naruto couldn't tell, but whatever it was, it set Sōgen off.

The one-eyed shinobi twirled his staff, threw it in the air and quickly went through a string of hand seals before catching it again and tapping it against the paved ground.

A strong gust of wind blew past.

At first nothing happened. Naruto considered whether the older shinobi had activated another seal perhaps. He tensed readying himself.

Then he saw something in the corner of his eye.

The carefully manicured patches off grass all over the military district rapidly shot up and began to congregate high above in the sky. Countless blades of grass gathered to give form to a _grass dragon._

"Kusa Ninpō Ōgi: Kamisori Kusaryū," Sōgen breathed heavily.

The Razor Grass Dragon, Kusa's most powerful jutsu, had been passed down for many generations in the shinobi village. It was immensely powerful and deadly, and _very _taxing on chakra. It had been years since he had last used it.

Naruto could hardly believe his eyes as the Razor Grass Dragon continued to grow in size. Grass continued to shoot up like pin needles faster than he would have been able to stop even if he tried. Before long the grass dragon _dwarfed_ even the likes of Gamabunta in size, its serpentine body coiling for seemingly enternity.

Yellow orbs of chakra glowed ominously in its eye sockets and the dragon released a screeching roar that threatened to split his eardrums.

Finally regaining his composure Naruto adopted a throwing stance and threw a Gale Javelin at the grass dragon. "Fūton: Reppūyari!"

Sōgen made no attempt to stop him and simply observed his reaction as

the Gale Javelin barely did any damage to the still growing construct. "It is futile, boy. This jutsu has been passed down for generations in Kusagakure, it is our single most coveted kinjutsu."

Naruto looked away from the serpentine monster to look at the Kusa leader. "Orochimaru's summon is a lot cooler."

The mere mention of the name seemed to sour the Shogun's mood and prompt the village leader to raise his staff and command his creation to attack.

The grass dragon screeched again, louder this time, as it collected its enormous body, and swatted aside one of the falcons. The summon hurtled to the ground and crashed into a residential building in the civilian districts with a resounding blast.

Naruto lurched involuntarily. He felt a cold sensation in his stomach. His chakra suddenly felt _different_, he couldn't put a finger on it, but it felt as though it had changed. It felt _wrong. _It felt as though something had been taken from him. It was a nauseating sensation, thoroughly uncomfortable and ill boding.

Then he heard the remaining falcons release angry caws and the realisation hit him.

Naruto took off, blasting wind chakra through his Propulsion Palms as he rocketed towards the grass dragon to intercept the remaining falcons. "NO!" he shouted to warn them. He sped up even more and soared like a missile. The strain on his wrists was excruciating but he couldn't let it get in the way.

The remaining cast of falcons set upon the grass dragon. Hayatsume the Falcon Lord and Senzaru hung back as the remaining four falcons attacked.

They didn't stand a chance, though it appeared as though they did at first as they tore chunks of the grass dragon's body with their talons. The falcons achieved little more than injure themselves as the Razor Grass Dragon lived up to its name in more than shape. It drew blood through the lightest of touches, and what damage the falcons did inflict was repaired quickly as more grass grew to replace the chunks.

"GET BACK!" Naruto met Hayatsume and Senzaru before they could join the fray. "Stay back! It'll simply repair itself!"

**"The construct killed one of my cast, it must die!" **Hayatsume outraged.

"It can't die until Sōgen is dead!" Naruto shouted over the screeching and cawing. "I'll take care of it! I need you to keep assisting the toads!"

**"Father, he is right," **Senzaru spoke up tentatively. **"The creature killed one of our own with a flick of its tail. We should let Naruto-sama take care of it."**

**"See it done!" **Hayatsume said before recalling his remaining falcons. **"We want it and its creator destroyed!"**

Naruto nodded looking from the grass dragon to Sōgen down below. "It's what I came here for."

The falcons didn't hear him as they returned to assisting the toads. The grass dragon released another screech and came his way at greater speed than its size would have suggested, though taking into consideration the creature was made entirely out of grass it was to be considered.

Still, Naruto was confident he wouldn't lose in a battle of speed. "Come at me, you ugly son of a bitch." He took the pieces of metal off his wrists and attached them to his ankles. He then spread his arms and conjured two Whirlwind Lances to cover both off his arms.

The dragon screeched, its yellow orbs intensifying as they locked on him. Naruto set off at even greater speed than before. Usually he preferred to use his Propulsion Palm technique; it simply made more sense given how he could still run if need be if he hurt his hands.

Aerial combat was a different story however. He would need all the speed he could get, and his lances could act as emergency thrusters if necessary.

Naruto focused his chakra through his legs to the sole his feet. "Fūjin no Hishō!"

Wind God's Flight made a world's difference. The strain was no less on his ankles than it was on his wrists but the additional speed was worth it. As he soared to meet the grass dragon, he spun like torpedo with his lances extended, tearing through its razor grass body.

Flashes of white and green cut through the air as he flew through the gaping hole in the dragon's gigantic body. He hissed in pain, bleeding from several cuts on his arms, legs and even his face. Even the slightest contact was enough to break skin.

"_Fuck that hurt._" Fortunately his healing factor kicked in almost immediately and the shallow cuts began to close up.

The grass dragon released another ear-splitting screech. The giant hole in its body was already beginning to repair itself. As if it wasn't bad enough already, the monstrosity grew a pair of arms as it repaired itself. **(4)**

Naruto had a long enough lead on it to consider his options first. If he dealt with the dragon and took too long, Sōgen would have him at a disadvantage, but if he decided to go for Sōgen directly that would leave his falcons unprotected. The logical thing to do would be to dismiss them. It would put the toads at a disadvantage but they were tough, and it would save him considerable amounts of chakra he would otherwise be using to maintain them.

Following this train of thought the worst thing that could come out of this would be offending the falcons for dismissing them without warning, but he'd rather ruffle their feathers than see them dead.

The decision was made. Naruto cut his chakra off from the remaining falcons by the time the grass dragon released another screech and came surging his way.

He immediately noticed something was wrong.

He could feel it as soon as he tried to dismiss the falcons, an awful, chilling sensation similar to when one of the falcons died. The cast of peregrine falcons was still present, and just as confused as he was judging from the way they instinctively regrouped to protect their Falcon Lord.

"_Uzumaki-Ryū Fūin: Yūaku Kōsō Shujin!_"

Naruto froze momentarily as he looked over his shoulder with widened eyes and found Sōgen hovering in his protective dome, staff leveled at him with a menacing sneer.

An unpleasant chill coursed through his body, followed by a burning sensation as black markings began to appear on his forehead, flowing from a spiral-shaped mark on his forehead where he had been struck earlier.

'This is the jutsu he used to keep Jiraiya from Reverse Summoning!' Naruto realised. He swung his right arm intending to take the Shogun's head with his Whirlwind Lance but came to a sudden stop as more markings began to flow from the spiral-shaped mark on his forehead.

Sōgen raised his extended index and middle finger at him. "_Uzumaki-Ryū Fūin: Kari no Fūsa._"

'_Uzumaki style?_' His eyes set in a wide stare of disbelief as his body froze completely and remained suspended in the air. His curiosity regarding the origin of the seal that now bound him quickly faded, replaced by panic and fear that took their toll on his nerves.

Darkness clouded Sōgen's one visible eye as his killing intent spiked. "My pet is hungry."

Naruto could only grit his teeth as he struggled to regain control of his body. The Temporal Lockdown certainly lived up to its name as he continued to fight its hold over him. He could only hope the temporary period of time would be short.

Sōgen hovered away and raised his staff once more, directing the grass dragon to attack.

'Shit, shit, shit!' No matter how hard he tried his body simply wouldn't follow his mind. The more he seemed to struggle the faster the black markings continued to spread over his entire body.

The dragon released a roar as it neared and unhinged its jaws as it swallowed its prey whole.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

"No!" Tsunade exclaimed as she watched the grass dragon swallow Naruto whole.

The office was crowded with high-ranking shinobi of various departments; ANBU, the Torture & Interrogation Force, Strategy & Logistics and the Military Police amongst others. A tense silence fell over all of them as they observed the crystal ball with apprehension.

Sakura covered her mouth in silent horror.

"This is not good," Homura stated gravely, with a sympathetic look in his eyes as he looked at the Godaime. "We may have to reevaluate our options."

"We cannot afford to be dragged into a war like this," Koharu concurred, though with more reservation than usual.

Tsunade regarded the two of them with look of fury.

"They may be right, Tsunade-sama," Nara Shikaku spoke up with a wary look on his scarred face. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but the situation isn't looking good."

"I concur with Shikaku-dono," Hiashi agreed with a nod to the Nara clan head. The Hyūga looked at Tsunade sternly. "At the very least we must reconsider."

**"Not so fast, young'uns," **Fukasaku interjected, his old eyes glued on the crystal. **"It's not over yet."**

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Sōgen watched the beast devour the jinchūriki whole, certain of his victory, though ever so cautious. Though none had ever been swallowed by the Kamisori Kusaryū and lived to tale, his opponent was a jinchūriki, one that was rather powerful on his own and who had yet to even use his bijū's power.

A long moment went by. The battle seemed to be over. Uzumaki's chakra had disappeared.

Sōgen released a relieved sigh. He didn't know how much longer he could have maintained his jutsu. The Kamisori Kusaryū was taxing on his reserves and stamina to say the least, even in his youth.

Suddenly the dragon released a cry… it was _afraid. _This unsettled the Shogun, for its conscious was a reflection of his own. What was there to be afraid of?

Crimson chakra erupted from the dragon's midsection, ripping it apart as it erupted like a volcano. The charka swirled like a hurricane of chakra, a maelstrom of carnage

…

Naruto breathed heavily as crimson chakra flowed from his body. Steam flowed from the countless cuts that covered every visible inch of his body as his healing factor kicked in. "I was hoping to avoid using the bastard fox…"

Though alarmed, the Shogun remained still. An insane pressure kept him where he was. He sensed greater danger than he could repel if he attacked now. Konoha's jinchūriki was no longer fighting with his own power. The sheer pressure of his presence alone was evidence of that fact.

The crimson maelstrom held Naruto suspended in the air. His already lengthy hair had grown even longer and spikier, now reaching his shoulder blades. The whiskers marks on his cheeks grew deeper and more defined, his nails grew longer and fangs protruded from under his lips. Red, slit eyes fixed on his opponent with cold, murderous intent. "I _really _didn't want to use this power…"

"Oh?" Sōgen's eye narrowed.

The next thing he knew a crimson chakra lance collided with his barrier. The dome quickly began to crack under the pressure. It would hold for much longer despite his best efforts to reinforce it.

Then there was blood.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>**

I hope you guys enjoyed that. It's been a while since I wrote a fight scene, especially one this long (and we're not done yet!), so I was a bit nervous about it and revisited it several times before making my final decision. Before you crucify me for another cliffhanger, worry not: the next chapter will be up soon. I'm working hard on it.

So, I've given you guys a bit of a taste of Sōgen's background this chapter. He's a character I created after it was revealed Karin originally hailed from Kusagakure in chapter 482 if memory serves me correctly. I believe it was mentioned she was actually there under Orochimaru's orders, but whatever, I changed her background. Getting back to the point, Her Uzumaki heritage and Kusa background made me think of adding more depth to Kusa and its ties to the Uzumaki clan, which then led to the creation of Sōgen, a character that I want to keep around for a while and develop. I have thought out his background story for a while now and I hope you guys find it interesting. You'll find out more about him in due time.

As for Naruto, he has shown quite a bit of his arsenal this jutsu. There's more to reveal though, he did train under the Professor for a solid year after all. You can safely assume he's got a kickass skillset, but I've done my best to avoid making him overpowered. That wasn't my intention when I started writing this and I don't intend to change.

Some people were confused as to why Tsunade is seen as weak by the shinobi world and why the advisers want her gone. The answer is pretty obvious. Tsunade wasted the prime years a drunkard. She wouldn't have been chosen for the position if not for her reputation, heritage, and the fact Jiraiya refused to be Hokage many times. Shortly after she was chosen, Itachi and Kisame ran wild in her village. Now that the Akatsuki are manipulating the minor villages through Sōgen, they simply have no reason to fear Tsunade's already diminished reputation. The elders feel that Konoha needs to a new Hokage, one that can still inspire fear in their enemies and confidence in their allies. To that end they've been working against Tsunade, who in this chapter finally had enough and put them in their place.

**Notes**

**(1)** This is Ryūzetsu from the fifth Naruto Shippūden movie Blood Prison. She will play a role in this story some ways down the line.

**(2)** I bet most of you hardly noticed or just forgot that I wrote Naruto in this state whenever he enters his initial jinchūriki mode earlier on in this fic. It's an Uzumaki thing I'm using for other stories. I shamelessly copied this idea from Katekyō Hitman Reborn. Remember how Tsuna would always get his shit together when in Dying Will mode? Yeah, it's like that.

**(3) **Remember the Banishing Rasengan Naruto used in chapter seven, against Kabuto? I doubt you do. Anyway, back then I called it the Haisuru Rasengan, which is actually mistranslated. Anyway, the Tsuihō Rasengan looks just like the first Rasengan Naruto used against Kabuto. Look it up, it was awesome.

**(4)** Imagine the Razor Grass Dragon too look like Rayquaza from Pokémon.

**Jutsu Used:**

(Fūton: Senpūken – Whirlwind Fist) – C rank, offensive, mid range. One of the first fūton jutsu Naruto devised himself, using the principles behind his Reppūshō jutsu to form a "glove" of compact wind around his hand to fire like a projectile.

(Fūton: Senpūhoko – Whirlwind Lance) – B rank, offensive, short range. A more advanced fūton jutsu created by Naruto he favours in combat. By manipulating his wind affinity Naruto is able to bend wind into the shape of a lance to cover his entire arms. This technique requires advanced nature manipulation. **Derived jutsu:** Reppuyari (Gale Javelin).

(Fūton: Reppuyari – Gale Javelin) – B rank, offensive, long range. Using the same principles behind his Whirlwind Lance, Naruto adds focus on shape manipulation to form his wind chakra into a projectile, a javelin with extraordinary speed and piercing power.

(Fūton: Fūjin no Hishō) Wind God's Flight) – B rank, supplementary. Derived from the Propulsion Palm, this jutsu allows Naruto a far greater deal of speed and maneuverability in aerial combat. **Parent jutsu: **Shuishin Shō (Propulsion Palm).

(Katon: Haisekishō – Ash Pile Burning) – B rank, offensive, mid rage. A fire jutsu developed by the Sarutobi clan that coverts chakra into flammable ash that can be used for explosions and to set fire to all that it touches.

(Fūka Hōin – Fire Sealing Method) – B rank, supplementary, short range. A sealing jutsu specifically designed to absorb all types of fire for storage or defensive purposes.

(Secret Grass Ninja Art Technique: Razor Grass Dragon – Kusa Ninpō Ōgi: Kamisori Kusaryū) – S rank, offensive, all ranges. This kinjutsu was developed by the founder of Kusagakure and has been passed down to the greatest shinobi of each generation since. Requiring vast amounts of chakra, this jutsu creates a Razor Grass Dragon that dwarfs most summons and can repair itself when damaged. The dragon is extremely powerful and can use its body for other jutsu. Due to the light materials it is created from it is both fast and possesses a strong defense, cutting all those that touch it.

(Uzumaki-Ryū Fūin: Kari no Fūsa – Temporal Lockdown) – ? rank, supplementary, short range. One of many combat orientated seals designed by the Uzumaki clan to temporary restrain their opponents. The duration of the seal varies from user to user.

(Uzumaki-Ryū Fūin: Yūaku Kōsō Shujin – Gracious Imposing Host) – ? rank, supplemtary, short range. A highly advanced seal designed by the Uzumaki clan to deal with invaders on their homeland of Uzu no Kuni. This seal is incredibly powerful and complex in nature, rendering Summoning and Reverse Summing impossible upon activation.

**Character Stats**

Naruto | Ninjutsu: 4 | Taijutsu: 3.5 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 2.5 | Intelligence: 3 | Strength: 3.5 | Speed: 4.5 | Stamina: 5 | Chakra: 5 | Chakra Control 3.5 **| Total: 38 |**

Sōgen | Ninjutsu: 5 | Taijutsu: 4 | Bukijutsu: 3.5 | Genjutsu: 4 | Intelligence: 5 | Strength: 3 | Speed: 4 | Stamina: 4 | Chakra: 4.5 | Chakra Control: 4.5 **| Total: 41.5 |**


	25. Chapter 25: Red

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: 07-06-14_

_**I know it's been a long wait, for which I apologise profusely. Quite a few of you reached out to me; some with concern for my wellbeing and others with questions regarding the status of the story – I appreciate all of it. To keep it short; I had one bad infection after another for a while. By the time I got better exam season was gearing up, and seeing as I'm in my second year of law school, it was honestly too hectic and stressful to do much with regards to writing. I'm back now though, for the next for four months at least, so there's that.**_

_**I'm very pleased Naruto: Potential Realised has broken the 3000 review barrier, the story is a lot more successful than I thought it would be, so that's very pleasing.**_

**Unedited.**

* * *

><p>CH25: Red<p>

* * *

><p>(Kusagakure – Undisclosed Location)<p>

Karin loathed life in Kusagakure. She hated everything about it. She hated the village and the people in it, the country surrounding it, and the tall grass and river lands throughout which shallow slivers of streams ran for miles, of which many were poisoned by Kusa-nin to foil unsuspecting invaders (though she could never remember which were poisoned and which were not), and she hated the thick forests and the countless of filthy swamps and disgusting insects and poisonous plants and flowers in them. She hated the weather, unbearably humid during the summer and bone chilling cold in the winter. There was truly nothing redeemable about Kusagakure. Not a single one thing that could make her believe there was something worth cherishing in the country she had been born to.

Being raised a shinobi with exceptional– or rather, _unique _– sensory perception ability did not make her life any less troublesome. "Fuck you and your _expectations_. _All _of you," she wore up a storm of curses as packed her bags.

Ever since she was a little girl her sensory aptitude and unique healing ability had ensured she was always closely watched. Few knew just how much Kusagakure relied on her ability to detect and discern chakra down to its most minute form. For the past two weeks Sōgen had her track a foreign chakra signature in the village belonging to an intruder the Shogun, for reasons unknown to her, was content to let roam freely.

It was beyond confusing given Kusa's otherwise zero tolerance measures against spies, but Karin knew better than to question orders. Nobody refused the Shogun. Not even her rare Uzumaki heritage and unique abilities would be enough to guarantee her life.

The Shogun got what he wanted – _always_. You either obeyed or you died. It was that simple.

Karin didn't mind her assignment though, strange as it were, because she quickly realised she had once sensed this particular chakra signature before a long time ago. It was during the Chūnin Exams when she first sensed it in the Forest of Death. It was the last time she had been allowed to leave the village.

Sōgen had sent her to Konoha to observe chakra signatures belonging to Konoha's new generation of future clan leaders and prominent shinobi. Amongst the Shogun's more ruthless strategies, Kusa made it their business to track and observe promising young shinobi from other villages in order to nip the bud before it could bloom. Targets were observed for some time and, _usually_, dispatched when the opportunity arose, often when the target was outside of their village's wall. Naturally, these assassinations were always made to look like the actions of other parties.

There had been quite a few talented young shinobi at the Chūnin Exams Karin had attended. It sickened her to think that most of them would have likely been _disposed_ of by now.

The invader's chakra was unlike anything she had felt before. Even from her considerable distance from the village, she could feel it, and no doubt even less skilled sensor types could too albeit faintly. She wondered why she hadn't noticed before, during her time in Konoha, the familiar quality to the invader's chakra not unlike her own. As intriguing as it was, there was no time to ponder.

'Now is my chance,' Karin thought as she hurriedly stuffed her duffle bag with some clothes and other essentials. 'I'm going to get out of here, and then…'

The sensor type almost _swooned_ as her memory wandered to the day she saw him for the first time, the moment she fell in love with _Uchiha Sasuke._

_Flashback…_

"You guys! Damn it, where are you?" Karin clutched the Earth scroll in her hand in a vice grip as she trudged through the aptly named Forest of Death, as though her safety rested on her ability to keep it close. She was terrified and by her lonesome in the veritable contained battlefield of vicious wildlife and enemy shinobi. Karin swore under breath, her teammates were nowhere to be seen though they had been with her mere moments ago, undoubtedly hunting down the team that attempted to ambush them, though that had failed due to her sensory perception. On her own, Karin was far too frightened to focus on anything other than her surroundings, unable to get a lock on her team's chakra signatures.

They were supposed to protect her! She wasn't fit for combat; her role as their sensor type was to detect and document chakra types. There was little she could to defend herself. Karin's luck turned for the worse yet as a giant bear came crashing through the Forest of Death, tearing down entire trees and uprooting thick brushes as it preyed up on the young kunoichi.

"You guys!" Karin screamed helplessly, scrambling to escape as the bear charged at her. It was to no avail as she tripped and fell on her face in her hurry; the fall knocked her glasses off her face. 'It's over! I'm going to die!' she thought panicked. A blurry and savage death was imminent.

The giant bear roared, baring its fangs as it neared.

"I'm going to die!" she thought as her blurry vision made out a new figure.

"Shishi Rendan!"

It happened so fast that by the time Karin managed to find and put on her glasses the bear had already been defeated, and slumped over on the ground with a minor quake.

That's when she saw him.

"Another Earth scroll, huh?" the raven-haired boy said, standing atop the defeated animal's head, a satisfied smirk on his face. "See ya."

Before Karin could say anything her saviour was already gone. She sat there for the longest time, her mind blank on all but his arrogant smile. Karin didn't recall how much time passed when she heard another voice.

"Quite something, isn't he?"

Karin jumped as she looked up the tree she sat under.

Orochimaru slithered down and stood in front of her, smiling ominously and licking his lips with his lengthy tongue. "Oh, yes, quite something indeed."

…_End Flashback_

Karin vividly remembered meeting Orochimaru of the Sannin that day. The infamous serpent sought her out and made her an offer worth risking the penalty of death.

"_Uchiha Sasuke will come to me in the due time to attain power,"_ he had told her. _"If you wish to be near him, little girl, I shall permit it. I may even find uses for you too..." _

Though he didn't elaborate Karin knew what he meant: her Uzumaki heritage made her a _very _valuable asset.

"_Think it over," _Orochimaru said in his parting words. _"Sōgen would surely make the connection if you deserted now, however, if a year or so from now you wish to leave Kusa and join me – join Sasuke and I – there will be a place for you."_

The rogue shinobi disappeared shortly after and left her to her thoughts. Karin had of course considered his offer countless times since. She had made her decision to go when desertion was opportune, and such an opportunity presented her tonight.

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Blood dripped to the floor of the cracked barrier dome as it repaired itself. Sōgen frowned though he remained calm. 'What fearsome power… The Kyūbi truly cannot be underestimated.' The Shogun looked to where his left arm once was. The limb had been savagely ripped off and rendered his shoulder to a bloody stump.

Naruto remained suspended in a maelstrom of crimson chakra. Two tails of bubbling chakra flowed from his lower back. "Don't push it, bakegitsune," he breathed heavily as he fought to regain his composure.

The more tails of chakra he called forth, the harder it became to remain in control. The Kyūbi's evil intent amplified his own emotions and clouded his judgment. It took every ounce of restraint to keep from mauling Sōgen like a wild animal. His killing intent spiked and receded sporadically. 'The damn fox is trying to take control.' He held out his hand and channelled his chakra and golden flames covered his fingertips.

"_You want to reinforce the seal?"_

"_Yes."_

"_May I ask why, Naruto-kun?"_

_There was a pause. "The fox killed my parents. I know being jinchūriki means I can't make every decision I make about me, I have to understand what I mean to Konoha - I understand that now… So I'll be its jailor and I'll help maintain the balance between the Great Five, but I refuse to ever rely on it again. As far as I'm concerned it doesn't exist. I'll be a jinchūriki in name only."_

"_Very well… Perhaps we can reach a compromise, Naruto-kun."_

Naruto slammed his flame-covered hand on his stomach and turned his wrist as though twisting a key in a lock.

The Kyūbi's chakra quickly began to subside, sucked back into the seal on his stomach that bound the bijū. Naruto continued to suspend himself using his Fūjin no Hishō, his eyes turning blue though his pupils remained temporarily split.

"You refuse to fight with your bijū's power?" Sōgen sounded quizzical, seemingly maintaining his composure despite the fact he was now one arm short. The shock faded and pain coursed through his body, and yet the Shogun projected the perfect image of calm.

Naruto spat a mouthful of blood as the wounds came to a close and healed at a rapid pace. "Where is Jiraiya?"

"You seriously expect me to tell you?" the Shogun laughed derisively at the mere thought of it. "Why would I even considering entertaining such a foolish notion?"

"To save your own life," Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "And the people down there," he added pointing to the village. "You're their leader, aren't you? Your actions are going to lead to another war that is going to take more lives than either of us are prepared to lose!"

"_You dare lecture me on what it means to be a leader?_" Sōgen said in hollow voice so quiet and cold it only hinted at his ire. The mask of calm cracked. "You attack my village, kill my men and lay siege to my buildings, _and you dare_ lecture me, boy?I, who have saved this country? I, who have fought in more battles than you have lived days – _I_, who have stained my hands with the blood of countless for the sake of this country? You know nothing, boy. You-!"

"_You can't win_," Naruto cut him off resoundingly. "I'm not so fresh myself but we both know I can kill you right here and now, and your precious country will be left to face a war it can't win. And even if you did somehow kill me, it won't be enough. You're outnumbered and outmatched against Konoha and its allies."

Sōgen grit his teeth and ignored the searing pain in his stump. "My allies would beg to differ."

"You won't have many allies left after this." There was undeniable merit to the statement. After all, who would stand with the village that was assaulted by a single shinobi? The fact that Kusa hadn't fought a battle so close to home – _at home_, in decades simply made things worse. "You know that as well as I do."

"We shall see about that," Sōgen glowered.

Naruto's chakra spiked as he took a fighting stance. "I did warn you, old man," he said coldly. As a rule he refused to actively rely on the Kyūbi's chakra but whilst it was still mingled with his own he figured he might as well put it to good use, aiming with his left palm as he pulled his right fist back. "_Makaze._"

'Evil Wind?' It was fortunate for the Hidden Grass leader his dominant limb remained as he quickly reinforced his barrier under the threat of imminent attack.

Naruto channelled the remainder of the Kyūbi's chakra into his fist as though he were to perform another Whirlwind Fist. The principles were similar but the results were worlds apart. "_Oniken!_"

The Shogun braced himself as he punched the air, firing off the last of the Kyūbi's chakra in single, compacted projectile of bijū chakra. The Demon Fist rippled through the air like an artillery cannon, crashing into the spherical barrier with such force Sōgen was forced to reconstruct it as fast it was being destroyed.

Naruto did not relent there, however, and followed up with a slamming an unusually large Rasengan against the projectile and drove it even future in the crack forming on the surface. "Ōdama Rasengan!"

Sōgen buckled under the sheer pressure of the sizeable spiralling sphere of chakra slamming into his fragmented barrier as it blasted him to the ground below with such velocity his descent was abrupt and _brutal._

The result was a resounding crash and vision obscuring cloud of dust. The impact alone would have killed the Hidden Grass leader if not for the pitiful remains of his barrier that shattered upon impact. Though it kept him alive, it did not spare him the pain of a broken back and many bone fractures.

Still in the air, Naruto then turned to the grass dragon as its reconstruction neared completion, knowing that it would have to be dealt with once and for all before he could come within reach of the village leader.

He drew a deep breath and hunched over, arching his arms over his back.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

"Yes!" Tsunade made no attempt to hide her approval as they observed the blonde sending Sōgen crashing to the ground below. She felt an enormous weight fall of her shoulders and released a sigh of relief. "Damn kid."

Koharu and Homura wore matching expression of reserved apprehension. "The battle is not over," the latter said, though he sounded vaguely impressed.

"Hokage-sama."

Tsunade looked to Rooster. The ANBU captain had been quiet throughout the battle thus far. "What is it?"

"I request leave to depart and retrieve Uzumaki," the ANBU captain said.

The Godaime nodded. "How long will it take you to get to Kusa no Kuni and back?"

"If I leave now, I can be there within the day assuming he takes the shortest route back to our borders."

"Bring him back in bindings," Danzō spoke up announcing his presence in the room. The Root leader had been awfully silent up until then, though for different reasons than most.

Rooster glanced at the man known as some as the Darkness of Shinobi and then to Tsunade for confirmation. "Hokage-sama?"

"Disregard that old man's ramblings," Tsunade instructed with a sideway glare. "Bring Naruto back unharmed. Don't take no for an answer if he refuses but try not to hurt him."

"Understood." Rooster nodded his understanding and vanished from sight by means of a Body Flicker.

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura tried to keep her voice down as she called for her master's attention. She was the only chūnin the room of full of Konoha's brass, her presence was anything but appropriate. "Look."

"**Perhaps this is it," **Fukasaku mused aloud. **"That terrible jutsu."**

Tsunade raised an eyebrow as the entire room's attention shifted to the old toad. "What jutsu?"

"**I have yet to see it myself and have only heard of it," **Fukasaku said with uncertainty. **"About five months after Naruto-kun began his training, I heard of an incident amongst the inhabitants of Mount Kongōurin. The scorpion horde took offence to the slayings of their kin at the hand of Naruto-kun."**

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't tell me he picked a fight with them."

"**Quite the contrary," **Fukasaku assuaged her concerns. **"The story goes that they attacked him on him early in his training and Naruto-kun defended himself. Still, the scorpion horde demanded redress. If not Naruto-kun's life they demanded territory. Territory that they had no reasonable claim to and was not Enma-sama's to give without abusing his position as one of the Twelve Deva. Personally I believe the scorpions were simply exploiting Enma-sama's strong desire to maintain peace. "**

"So what happened?" Sakura asked despite herself, waiting intently when the old toad to another pause.

Fukasaku croaked with laughter. **"Enma-sama decided Naruto-kun was to take responsibility for his actions and that the scorpion horde would have their pound of flesh-"**

"How is that fair or just? Naruto didn't go looking for a fight!" Sakura said indignantly.

Tsunade placed a hand on her student's head. "Quiet, Sakura."

The rosette shrunk embarrassed.

"**I wasn't finished, young lady," **Fukasaku said albeit with an amused smile. **"The scorpion horde would have their pound of flesh, but only if they could take it. Enma-sama delivered Naruto at the foot of Mount Kongōurin and promised the scorpions none would interfere. Vengeance was theirs if they could take it, and sure enough the scorpions attacked."**

"Naruto took them all on by himself?" Tsunade asked.

Fukasaku paused again, slightly agitated. **"That's right, Tsunade-chan," **the old toad confirmed. **"However, Naruto had come prepared with a new jutsu. Now, I do not know the exact details for this part of the story, and it changes every time I hear it, though the story always ends the same way. Naruto defeated the entire scorpion horde with a single devastating jutsu so powerful that not even he could avoid its devastation and ended up bedridden **_**for an entire month.**_**"**

-ooo-

(Mount Kongōurin)

Hiruzen and Enma sat cross-legged in front the giant crystal ball. The majority of the Sarutobi clan, apes and humans alike, joined them as they watched the battle in Kusa unfold, huddled around crystal ball as though it were a family picnic. None were too reserved in their support for Naruto. To them he was as much part of the Sarutobi clan as any one of them, and the Sarutobi looked after their own.

"**Kick his ass, Naruto!" **Yanchazaru shouted with his friends, quite literally jumping up and down with zeal. The children were promptly shushed by their elders and chided for their colourful language.

Sarutobi Kagerō crossed his arms over his broad chest standing next to his familiar. "Things are heating up, Uncle. He finally stopped playing around."

"**Naruto was never playing around," **Enma disagreed with the young Sarutobi. **"Though he is slow on the take, the longer he fights, the better he becomes. It's a double-edged sword, true, but it has yet to fail him."**

Hiruzen wordlessly agreed with the Monkey King, eyes stuck on the crystal ball as Sarutobi children quite literally crawled over him. A part of Hiruzen was overtaken with apprehension. He was afraid for Naruto, afraid that he might have made the wrong decision in stepping aside and letting him go to Kusa - _terrified_ that it would be one of many mistakes that would haunt until his dying breath.

"**Children, get off Hiruzen-sama!"**

The other part of him was filled with pride as he watched Naruto fight. It was such a change from the infant child he once held in his arms and looked over, and to see him hold his own in battle, to see the fruits of his training made him realise the boy that once idolised him as his doting grandfather had become a man.

He had become a man fit to protect his legacy, to carry on the Will of Fire. He had grown up and become fit to one day lead.

The realisation was Hiruzen's proudest moment.

And yet, why did it make him feel like weeping?

"**He's going to be fine, Hiruzen," **Enma said picking up on his counterpart's feelings. **"He's come a long way."**

Hiruzen smiled, proud and saddened at the same. "That he has, Enma." He picked up one of the children and set the unruly child in his lap. "Watch closely, everyone."

"It's that jutsu, isn't it?" Kagerō furrowed his brows with concern. "Is it complete?"

"That remains to be seen," Hiruzen said as he bounced the child in his lap. "Though I can say for certain that it is by far the most dangerous fūton jutsu I have ever witnessed."

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Naruto settled in his hunched stance as his chakra spiked. It had been half a year since he injured himself using this particular jutsu. He had been so close to death then… He had never seen Hiruzen so worried and relieved when he came to.

It was an excruciatingly painful and _humiliating_ time in his life that had cost him dearly. The incident had put him out of commission for a full month, bedridden and ashamed, and _terrified _of his own jutsu - but he had learned from his mistakes, and had grown because of it.

This was his greatest achievement. An S-ranked fūton kinjutsu determined and classified as such by the God of Shinobi himself.

White and green chakra took the shape of an ethereal giant.

The upper body of a menacing, ogre-like figure with malevolent grin carrying a bag of air raised at this back. A projection of the god of wind himself… the Fūjin. **(1)**

Naruto locked on the Kamisori Kusaryū as it roared and coiled its lengthy body with fury and anticipation. "Kusa's ultimate kinjutsu, huh? Well, let's see whose jutsu stacks up better, Sōgen."

The Fūjin matched his exacts movement, heaving the bag of wind as he raised his arms, and threw his hands in front of him. "Fūton: Fūjin no Itazarufukuro!"

The wind picked up.

As the Fūjin emptied its bag of wind the entire sky above Kusa turned a shimmering hue of white and green as _millions_ of chakra needles of chakra concealed in a blast of wind rained upon the Kamisori Kusaryū like a calamity spawned by a vengeful god. The beast screeched and trashed as it was taken apart, disintegrated as each needle inflicted damage on a cellular level, quite literally killing it as it tore each and every blade of grass asunder until what remained was a lifeless husk of dead grass that fell apart and scattered in the air.

It was pure and utter _devastation_.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

The room was quiet. The village leaders were simply stunned into silence as they watched the destruction unfold. They had all heard the stories of Kusa's strongest jutsu in their time, of the mighty dragon of grass that had defended Kusagakure for as long as it existed, an invincible and undefeatable jutsu that, at its height, made even the Shodai wary. Until that very moment the stories had been true as far as anyone knew.

It was true that the Kamisori Kusaryū was amongst the greatest jutsu ever created.

It was no longer true that it was invincible or undefeatable.

Tsunade broke into a satisfied smirk. "I can only imagine how inadequate you feel right now, Danzō."

As one of the few in Konoha to hold an affinity for wind the warmonger barely hid his sneer. "This is a victory for Konoha. I have no inclination to see it as anything else."

"It is certainly an impressive jutsu," Uzuki Yugao commented from behind her mask. "I have never seen anything like it."

Tsunade continued to beam inwardly, fighting to refrain from openly celebrating the victory. While it was true any victory Naruto claimed today would be a victory for Konoha, that did not change the fact that Naruto had overstepped, and as Hokage, she couldn't appear to be condoning that fact, as much as the results pleased her.

"I haven't seen a jutsu like that since Hiruzen," Homura commented seemingly greatly impressed.

Koharu gave him a dirty look for the same reasons Tsunade refrained from celebrating, but agreed nonetheless. "That dream of his no longer seems so foolish."

"It's an impressive jutsu but he still has ways to go," Hiashi said nodding towards the crystal ball. "Look at him. The jutsu was undoubtedly taxing on his already dwindling reserves."

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Naruto began to descend as his Fūjin no Hishō became harder to maintain. He felt… truth be told, _exhausted _didn't quite cover it. Despite coating his arms in chakra he could feel them going numb, a side affect from his own jutsu. Not even he could escape its harm, not completely, not yet.

It was time to go home.

He looked to where Sōgen had landed. The Hidden Grass leader lay on his back in a shallow pool of his own blood, his robes shredded and his grey hair strewn over his face. It seemed his barrier dome had been just enough to survive the impact but he was incredibly low on chakra, and from the looks of it, unable to carry on fighting.

There was one last thing he had to do.

The fading Fūjin matched his movements one last time as he arched his arms and hunched. His enemy was defenceless. 'If killing you prevents a war then I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight, you old fool.'

He didn't have the chakra to pull off another barrage like the first, it would either kill him or weaken him to the point the Kyūbi would take over, and he didn't know which was worse in his current situation, but his second offering would more than suffice to extinguish Sogen's flickering flame.

"Fūton," he completed his stance. The ethereal guardian had shrunk several sizes by now but it would be enough. "Fūjin no Itazarufukuro!"

Fūjin and jinchūriki moved in perfect synchronization. The bag of air opened and rained a smaller, though no less lethal, barrage of hundreds of thousands needless.

-ooo-

Sōgen found inner peace as the onslaught came his way. Though his dulled eye was filled with white and green, his mind was elsewhere, in a different time, a different place, with someone else.

He could see her now as he stood on death's door.

A woman with bright red hair and beautiful cream skin… a beautiful smile, and eyes filled with so much joy and life and hope.

"_Don't frown so much, Sōgen. You'll get wrinkles."_

Even on the verge of death, Sōgen found reason to rejoice, and so he found it in him to smile. His life had been dedicated to protecting the country _she_ loved. _Everything_ he had done since her passing had been for _her_, to honour her, to cherish all that she had cherished. All his actions, all his victories and his accomplishments – they were all dedicated to her memory, to her life and legacy.

And though he had lived longer than he had any right to, longer than he would have liked, now it was time for him to rest and be with her again, and so Sōgen closed his remaining eye. 'I'll be there soon… Kimiko…'

As certain death came within range, the air rippled and a darkness appeared seemingly from thin air. _A spiraling black hole of nothingness spanning the size of an entire building intercepted the onslaught._

"Mugen Suikomiguchi!"

Sōgen opened his eye and found a figure standing next to him. The figure, a man judging by sound and posture, carried an intricately designed staff with many tassels and wore a red coat cloak and straw hat. He was of average height and slim built, with long red hair tied in several ribbons. Everything else was covered in white bandages, even his face, except for his violet eyes.

A spiral symbol was emblazoned on the figure's back.

"You…"

The staff wielding figured looked to Sōgen as though disgusted by the mere sight of him in his pitiful state. "_Tsk, tsk, tsk!_ Don't tell me you let a mongrel like him do this to you, Sōgen."

-ooo-

(Konoha)

The sphere went blank.

"What just happened?" Tsunade exclaimed looking to Fukasaku. "What the hell was that thing?"

"**I don't know!" **Fukasaku banged his staff on the sphere several times. **"Something is blocking Ōgama-sama's powers, a powerful barrier it would seem."**

"I'll tell you what happened, the boy just brought an entire village to its knees!" Homura outraged and panicked into assuming the worst. "War is inevitable now."

"War was inevitable before this occurred, Homura-san," Shikaku interjected with his usual composure. "Sōgen would have eventually found his impetus, and now Naruto has served it to him. This works to our advantage, which I believe is why you wrote those letters, Hokage-sama."

"It is," the Godaime nodded, grateful as ever for the Nara clan head. "It wasn't planned but Naruto went for the heart of this foolish alliance. We shall see if the other villages still possess the courage and foolishness to stand by Sōgen now he has been humbled."

"If anything, war may yet be avoided now. At the very least this buys us some time to evaluate our options while Kusa and its allies do the same," Shikaku rubbed his scarred chin in thought. "No matter what, we must stand behind Naruto's actions. Even if sanctioning this attack after the fact is nothing more than a lie, it is a lie we must fight on if or when the time comes."

"I agree with Nara-dono," Hiashi concurred nodding. "We must also make it a priority to investigate The Shogun's ties to the Uzumaki clan immediately."

"Agreed," Tsunade said resolutely. "Anything?" she asked as the old toad continued to tinker with the crystal sphere. "We need to confirm Naruto made it out as soon as possible before we do anything else."

-ooo-

(Kusagakure)

Naruto had a hard time wrapping his head around what just happened as he tried to catch his breath. Just a moment ago he was entirely certainly certain victory was his. Sōgen was on his back, defeated and at his mercy, and all he had to do was deliver the coup de grâce to end it. He was certain the second onslaught would have done the job if not for the mysterious black hole that appeared out of nowhere and absorbed the entirety of his barrage.

The Fūjin disappeared, its presence was no longer sustainable, let alone a third salvo, and certainly not while he had to sustain the presence of thirteen summons that continued to wreak havoc in the burning military district of Kusagakure.

Even something as trivial in comparison as his Fūjin no Hishō started to become a noticeable drain now his vast reserves were nearly empty, so he made his way down to investigate and conserve his chakra.

His descent would not be so gentle however, as the next thing he knew _chains _wrapped around him and pulled him from the sky, slamming him into the ground face first. It was fortunate he had toughed up quite a bit over the past year because it hurt like hell and he managed to regain his bearings almost as quickly as he had lost them. Naruto scrambled to his feet and tensed in an attempt to free himself. Immediately he noticed something was off. The chains were not made of normal metal.

They weren't made of any kind of metal.

_They were made up entirely out of chakra._

"Tell me," a new voice spoke. "Did you really expect it to be that easy?"

Naruto turned to the source, narrowing his eyes as the cloaked figure to whom the chains were connected approached. Something told him he wasn't dealing with a Kusa-nin. In fact, something told him he wasn't dealing with a regular shinobi at all. "Who the fuck are you?"

"What a mouth on you, _mutt_." The chains wrapped around him tighter squeezing Naruto's arms against his ribs hard enough to make him wince. "You should know your place."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as his mind finally caught up with him and connected the dots.

"_Do I have any relatives left? Do I have anyone out there I can actually call family?" _**(2)**

"_I am certain there are other Uzumaki out there still, though the odds they go by that name are slim."_

He had read about the Uzumaki in the few tomes Hiruzen had provided him with and though he hadn't learned as much as he would have liked, he learned enough to realise that the red hair and chakra chains were dead giveaways. "You're like me… aren't you? _You're an Uzumaki._" Naruto winced as the chains tightened even more.

"No, _not like you,_" the cloaked figured said icily. "Look at you with that disgusting blond hair… And you dare call yourself an Uzumaki."

"Do you have a name, asshole?" he fished for information as he tried to figure out a way to undo his bindings. He gasped and doubled over as tiny blades protruded from the chain links and broke skin.

"I am the forty-sixth clan leader of the Uzumaki clan, Uzumaki Atsushi." The bandages covering his face fell to the ground. Atsushi appeared to be only a few years older than the jinchūriki, nineteen at the most. He was tall and with tan skin and piercing violet eyes. He was hideously scarred on his right cheek where a hollow gap showed his teeth. "And you _will_ know your place."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He was at a severe disadvantage and needed to buy some time so he said: "Some clan leader you are, dickhead. The Uzumaki clan was destroyed a long time ago."

"Oh, I'm sure that's what the fools in Konoha told you," Atsushi sneered, regarding him with a scowl of disgust as the chains tightened. "Though I cannot blame them. The Uzumaki of old, though brilliant, were a people of secrecy and deceit… recluses so absorbed in foolishly chasing abstract notions of truth that they failed to anticipate their own downfall when the consequences of their actions caught up to them."

"And I'm sure what you're doing isn't any different." There was something incredibly agitating about Atsushi's voice and presence.

The chains tightened even more. "I am not like my ancestors," Atsushi sneered through his hideous scowl. "The Uzumaki of new do not hide like vermin. Today seems as good as any to make our presence known. Killing Konoha's jinchūriki and reclaiming the beast that dwells inside you will send a loud and clear message."

As though on command four figures appeared, two knelt at either side of the Atsushi. They wore matching red cloaks and straw hats. There were two women on Atsushi's right side; one matching Naruto's height with a slender frame, and a petite girl, easily the shortest of them all and the only one not to carry a staff. On his right two men bent their knees: a mountain of a man with a cloth from under his eyes that hid most of his face, and a tall, lanky figure.

"Honoka, Hotaru, Nobuo, Saburo…" Atsushi spoke their names and came to pause. "Where is Karin?"

"Atsushi-niisama…" said the woman closest to the Uzumaki. She had dark eyes and wore a purple, sleeveless kimono blouse and obi and a short white skirt. **(3) **Her name was Honoka. "Karin, she…"

"She left the compound some time ago," Saburo stated as they rose to their feet, a grin on his face. "I saw her sneak out in a hurry."

Atsushi glowered at the lanky Saburo. "And you didn't think to stop her?"

"Sōgen's assistant, Natsuki-san, insisted that we left immediately," Saburo replied smirking still as amused by his clan leader's ire. "Karin has always been slow. She won't get far."

"Tche!" Atsushi looked to the shortest Uzumaki. "Hotaru, my love, make sure you track her down when we're done with this filth."

Naruto had yet to wrap his head around the fact that not only were his new opponents Uzumaki, from the way Atsushi was talking, _there was entire clan out there_. "How many Uzumaki are out there?"

"This one has chakra similar to ours," Saburo remarked with a questioning glance as though he was not even there. "You sure you want to kill him?"

"My mother was an Uzumaki," Naruto saw no harm in sharing as much. He was eager to find out more about them as he could. "She was a refugee from Uzu no Kuni. I was told there weren't many Uzumaki left."

Honoka looked to Atsushi alarmed. "Atsushi-niisama, you promised you would never kill another Uzumaki."

"I remember my promise, dear sister," Atsushi regarded Honoka with irritated look. "This one, however, is not one of us, he admitted as much himself. No… this one is merely the half breed spawn of an outsider and a _whore._"

There were very few things that set Naruto off the way that did.

Whatever people did or said to him, he usually could get over it, he could take the insults and the looks. Hell, he could even take people attacking him outright because he dealt with it like a man. Family and friends, however, was another story. That lit a fire in him that wouldn't be extinguished until he felt _justice _was server.

No one insulted the woman that sacrificed so much for him.

_"There's… there's so much more I want to say… to teach you… I want to stay with you…"_

"Y_ou really shouldn't have said_," his was ominously quiet like the calm before the storm. Kneading what little chakra he had left in his stomach, his chest swelled as he spewed a high-pressure stream of water. 'Suiton: Suidanha!'

The mountainous Uzumaki called Nobuo stepped in front of Atsushi and erected a barrier dome much like that of Sōgen, though considerably more robust. The Waver Severing Wave, a jutsu devised by Senju Tobirama and thought to him by the Sandaime, was capable of easily slicing through solid rock, yet it didn't so much as put a scratch on the barrier, though it was enough to elicit and immediate reaction.

The chains loosened for just a second, but it was enough for him to press his hands together to form his unconventional hand seal and take another page out of the Nidaime's book. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A riot of clones burst into existence and temporarily loosened the chains long enough for him to escape his bindings. The petite Hotaru, surged his way with unveiled killing intent and jumped high as she aimed for him.

He took off immediately, using his Wind God's Flight to get out range, and just in time as, to his utter shock, the Uzumaki girl punched a sizeable crater in the ground he had just stood on. 'She's no Tsunade but I've go to be careful.'

Saburo and Nobuo combined their own chains to dispatch his remaining clones whilst Atsushi wrapped his own chains around Hotaru's waist and launched her in the sky like a catapult.

It was an unusual move but it would take a lot hell of a lot more to surprise him. Naruto was ready for the girl and ruthlessly picked her back the ground, further deepening the crater she had created. The Uzumaki girl proved to be as durable as she was powerful and got up almost immediately, merely shaking her head to regain her bearings.

He remained hovering in the sky, a dark look in his eyes. He was angry – no, he was _furious_ with Atsushi's remarks, and every fiber in his being wished to make him pay, but he knew they had him at a severe disadvantage. They were fresh whereas he had expended most of his chakra waging a one man war against an entire shinobi village. His eyes wandered to where Sōgen lied on his back still. The Shogun wasn't as vulnerable of a target as he looked, however, for the Uzumaki would surely be upon him if he attacked.

'It's still worth a shot,' he decided as he formed the Kage Bunshin seal again and created ten clones, each hovering in front of him with dual Whirlwind Lances. It was a far cry from his usual numbers but it had to be done. 'I'll distract them while you take out Sōgen,' he conveyed mentally as he channeled a significant remainder of his chakra to his fists and began to punch the air as though performing another Whirlwind Fist. "Fūton: Yagura!"

In a way, he was. The principles of his Senpūken, like with his Oniken, made up the foundation for his Turret. With every punch he hurled a blast of compacted air at his opponents. The Uzumaki guards scattered to evade. Atsushi didn't so much as move an inch, supremely confident as the ground around him exploded in small chunks of debris and dust.

The bulky Uzumaki, Nobuo, wrapped his chains around Hotaru and hurled her into the sky for a second time, although this time making good use of his brute as she came flying with considerably greater speed.

'Again? Well, come and get it, bitch!' Naruto aimed another kick for Hotaru as he relented his bombardment.

She reacted quicker this time, and pushed off his shin like a springboard as she scaled over him and restrained him with her own chakra chains, using them to bind his arms behind his back and wound his legs together. He knew his situation was dire, that he had been careless, but she wasn't done yet, and began pulling him down with her with deceptive strength that continued to shock as they plummeted.

Naruto crashed to the ground on his back with great force. He spat a mouthful of blood as he _felt his back break on impact. _Despite the agonising pain he was still aware of his clones falling at the hands of Atsushi's giant chains swirling in a protective manner over Sōgen. Had it been worth it to try and take out the leader of Kusa? He didn't feel like answering that question though he knew the answer.

Hotaru drove a knee in his gut as she landed on top of him, forcing out another mouthful of blood as she increased efforts to restrain him with her chains. The other Uzumaki guards joined their chains with hers and suspended him several feet above ground, forming a four point perimeter.

Atsushi sneered at the display. "Well, isn't this a pitiful sight for Konoha's jinchūriki."

Naruto struggled to breathe, much less speak. Judging from feeling alone, he could add internal bleeding to his growing list of injuries. He would have swallowed his pride and called forth the Kyūbi's chakra if he could but found that to be impossible. It was as though the Uzumaki chains were restraining the bijū's chakra. They were so _dense _and _heavy. _He felt four different chakra signatures smother his own as they restrained him. Unpleasant didn't even begin to describe it.

"What do we do with him?" Saburo asked from his corner idly sitting on large chunk of debris once part of a concrete building. "If we extract the bijū now it'll accelerate our plans quite a bit but what do we do with him after it is done? Sōgen never planned on handing the bijū over to Akatsuki."

"Niisama," Honoka looked to her brother pleadingly. "Remember your promise."

"Don't worry, dear sister. I remember," Atsushi scowled at her, and then sighed regarding Saburo. "He's a mutt but he still has Uzumaki blood flowing in his veins." Atsushi molded chakra in his hands and fiery skull-shaped apparitions appeared on his fingertips as he approached the jinchūriki. "If he survives extraction he may be useful as a slave."

"You want to do it here and now?" Saburo laughed in obnoxious fashion like a hyena. "If we were ever going to renege on our agreement with the old Shogun now would be a good time."

Atsushi allowed a small patronising smile. "Don't move, it'll only hurt more that way." The fiery apparitions on the self-proclaimed Uzumaki clan leader grew more prominent and ominous with every step.

'Well, _fuck that._' What little resistance Naruto could muster, futile as it was, stirred something inside of him. An invigorating power, foreign and unidentifiable, yet somehow _intimately familiar_, rushed through his entire body and exploded outwards in a storm of sizeable chakra chains that dwarfed those of his captors, casting off their chains with a wave of power as immense at it was brief. It was all he needed.

"Impossible!" Atsushi exclaimed in shock from a safe distance, an angry and confused snarl on his face. "You're a half blood!"

Naruto didn't hear him. He didn't hear a sound except for one.

An echo… a voice and warmth so comforting and accepting he didn't want it to ever leave him.

_Go._

The foreign chains coiled around him as they faded. He felt a yanking sensation in his seal, and shortly after, the familiar sensation of the Kyūbi's chakra flowing through his body and mending his broken bones and healing his wounds. It was as though the mysterious power dwelling inside him had forcibly commandeered the bijū's power against its will.

_Go, now._

Naruto wasn't about to question who or _what _just saved his hide. His first instinct was to call Senzaru.

Instead, Gamahiro came crashing down from the heavens, sporting a handful of injuries of his own, and flattening the ground beneath his weight into a sizeable crater as he swung his dual swords, catching the Uzumaki off guard and forcing them to retreat to a safe distance. **"Let's go!" **the warrior toad boomed leveling the flat side of his sword.

Naruto didn't need to be told twice and jumped on the flat side of the extended blade as Gamahiro launched him high into the sky where Senzaru intercepted his descent, dipping under him with spread wings. He had never been as glad to see either of them as he was in that moment.

The falcon could sense his sentiments. **"You looked like you needed saving, Naruto-sama."**

"You have no idea," Naruto replied as he looked back.

Gamahiro made himself scarce with another giant leap, successfully undoing the chains that had begun to restrain him. One of the Falcon Lord's honour guard swept down to retrieve the toad.

Naruto released a relieved sigh and lay down on the falcon's back. "Get us out of here, Senzaru."

"**We anticipated you would say this, Naruto-sama," **the young falcon said. **"Look ahead."**

In the distance, the warrior falcons were painstakingly carrying the warrior toads out of the village, albeit it at a much slower pace. They even took care to recover their fallen brother. Hayatsume carried Gamabunta and another warrior toad by himself and lead the cast with a significant lead still. The Falcon Lord and Toad Chieftain were discussing something but he couldn't hear.

"**As soon as we are able, Gamabunta-sama and Father will disperse with their guards. I will personally see to your return to Konoha," **Senzaru informed.

Naruto could only nod as he lied on his back, his mind still reeling with revelations. Sōgen still drew breath and would likely be on the move as soon as he was able. War was inevitable now. As much as he wanted to turn back and finish the man off, he knew that to be impossible. He had reached his limit, and pushing any further now would be foolish and ill considered. Sōgen would have to die another time, and likely on the battlefield.

'I failed to stop the war before it even began,' Naruto thought somberly. 'But I did my best,' he acknowledged. 'Now I'll have to try and prevent as much bloodshed as I can.'

It was a crystalising moment for him. It was true he had failed to meet his objective, and it was true that war would undoubtedly come now, and yet it was also true that it had not been for a lack of effort. He had done what he could with the variables of the situation given to him. In the past he would have likely beaten himself up over it for weeks on end – months even, however now he realised he did not have that luxury. He did not have the luxury of time for berating himself or regrets. He had to look forward and make the best of his situation.

"**Naruto-sama, I sense a chakra signature in the forest below. It is distinctly similar to your own."**

"Oh, fuck." Naruto sat up and looked down. They were too high and the forest was too thick to see through, but if one of the Uzumaki had closed in on them, they would have to be dealt with quickly. "Tell the others to go ahead. I'll deal with this one alone."

Senzaru nodded and squawked to the distance to the other falcons.

Naruto didn't wait for a response and jumped off the falcon's back. He made his descent with carefully measured airstreams, aiming for the red-haired individual in his sights, softening his landing only somewhat as he caught his victim by surprise.

"Ouf!"

Naruto restrained the red-haired girl with frightening ease, pinning her arms behind her back despite her futile resistance. It was almost too easy. "Don't fucking move!"

"Get off me!" the girl screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'm not interested in you! I'm high-tailing it out of here while I can!"

"What?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as he bound Karin with ninja wire. It was only then that he realised she was different from the Uzumaki he had encountered in Kusagakure. "You're deserting Kusagakure – who are you?"

"I'm not a part of Kusagakure, I'm a part of the Uzumaki clan!" the bespectacled girl trashed pointlessly. "Now get off me!"

Intrigued to say the least, Naruto whistled and called his falcon familiar. "What's your name?"

"None of your fucking business!"

"You can either tell me and get a ride out of here or be left behind tied up and at the mercy of whoever finds you," Naruto threatened bluntly. "I imagine your asshole clan leader won't be pleased with you."

The Uzumaki girl grudgingly grunted her name. "Karin."

Naruto recognised the name as he lifted her off the ground just as Senzaru touched down. "I've got some questions I'd like you to answer."

"You take me with you to Konoha and I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Karin said.

Naruto furrowed his brows with suspicion, curious over her lack of resistance. "You _want_ to come with me to Konoha?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?" Karin replied testily. "We better get going then, _cousin._"

"Cousin?" Naruto furrowed his brows at her. 'Did she just identify my chakra?'

"Oh, please. Your chakra is undeniably similar to my own. Only an Uzumaki has that strong chakra," the irate girl elaborated before he could voice his surprise. "Atsushi is closing in on us. He'll be here in moments."

Naruto was genuinely impressed. "You can sense him all the way from here?"

"Yes, now let's go before he gets here!"

"Well, okay then. Let's get going, _cousin._"

-ooo-

(Konoha)

Fukasaku continued to bang away on the crystal ball with annoyance, a bulging vein on his head. "Work, damn you!" The toad stopped to catch his breath and then raised his webbed appendage once more just as the crystal began to flicker.

"**Fukasaku, what are you doing to my crystal that I loaned you?"** the Great Toad Sage said slightly amused.

"**Ōgama-sama!" **Fukasaku exclaimed relieved. **"What happened?"**

Tsunade approached the sphere and dipped her head respectfully in acknowledgement of the ancient toad. "Ōgama-sama, is Naruto OK?"

"**The boy is fine," **the Great Toad Sage croaked with a mystifying smile on his toothless visage. **"He doesn't seem to play nice with his own kin however."**

"His kin?" Tsunade's confusion lasted only for a second. "I see… This complicates things."

"**Fukasaku, you must return," **the ancient toad croaked. **"A summit has been called."**

Fukasaku nodded gravely. **"I see. I will return shortly, Ōgama-sama."**

The senile being nodded his large head and then turning to address Tsunade, said, **"Young lady, there was a brief window during which I could see Jiraiya-chan."**

"How is he?" Tsunade said quickly and with overt concern though she cared little for appearances at that moment. "Is he OK?"

"**It was only for a brief moment and he seemed to be in good spirits. His presence is obscured by the same powers that obscured them moments ago… powerful fūinjutsu the kind of which that has not been seen or spoken of openly for quite some time by human standards."**

"Then it's true," Koharu spoke up, her frowning race scrunched with wrinkles. "Sōgen has allied himself with the Uzumaki."

"I thought the Uzumaki were dead," Uzuki Yūgao said from behind her mask. "Hokage-sama?"

"That is a conversation for another time," Tsunade decided with a mindful look to her apprentice. "Sakura, you're free to go. If you see Kakashi, tell him to report to me immediately."

"She has heard too much, Tsunade," Koharu protested. "Surely you don't mean to let her go now without swearing her to secrecy."

"Koharu is right," Danzō agreed sneering at the rosette. Sakura visibly flinched under his one-eyed glare. "But you have no intention of swearing her to secrecy, do you?"

"It would hardly do to keep this victory from our people," Tsunade said smirking with a glance to Shikaku. "This is a good thing for all of us, Danzō, you should be pleased."

"I'm ecstatic," Danzō drawled sarcastically.

Shikaku looked to his fellow department heads. "It goes without saying nothing regarding the Uzumaki clan's involvement leaves this room. We need to carefully evaluate our next steps."

"**Then I will leave you to it and return to Mount Myōboku now," **Fukasaku said picking up the crystal ball. **"I will make sure Ōgama-sama gives Katsuyu-sama your love."**

"Please do," Tsunade said as the toad disappeared with a puff of smoke. "Run along now, Sakura. And remember…"

"Not a word about the Uzumaki clan," Sakura nodded her understanding. "I'll be on my way then, Tsunade-sama." The rosette bowed out of the room excruciatingly aware of the eyes following her.

Tsunade watched the door close and cleared her throat as she addressed her top shinobi. "This is a crucial time. I am well aware you all have questions you want answers to but we have a lot of work to do and little time to spare so I suggest we get to it and reconvene in a few hours. Hiashi-dono, I'm counting on the Military Police to increase their vigilance."

"Our first order of business will be to close the village gates," the Hyūga clan leader said. "The Hyūga clan's best will be closely rotating shifts from the time being."

"Very well," Tsunade turned to the Nara clan head. "We will need to recall our shinobi currently on missions for the time being."

Shikaku nodded once. "Understood. Wartime measures and protocols will roll out in due time."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes<strong>_

I hope you enjoyed that and would like to once again apologise that it took so long.

I actually had to cut out the Twelve Deva's meeting for this chapter because it simply wasn't coming together the way I wanted it to so I decided to push it to the next chapter.

Before any of you freaks out, the Uzumaki characters aren't just there to fill space. They're not meant to be these overpowered characters that simply exist only to challenge Naruto. No, they exist because I got it in my head that it would be fun to explore this universe a bit more with regards to the Uzumaki clan. The manga hardly mentions them because it simply isn't relevant to overarching story. In this story, I'm aiming to make Naruto understand the shinobi world a great deal more, and part of that has to do with Kusagakure and the Uzumaki clan.

The story as a whole will be gearing up in a lot of ways. I have the summer off so I'm hoping to churn out a few more chapters, though I will be focusing a lot more on other stories that I've been wanting to write for ages. So look forward to that if you'd like.

Drop me a review and let me known what you think of the chapter.

**Notes**

(1) Consider this something along the lines of Naruto's equivalent to Susanoo. Hashirama had his Wood God. Naruto has his Fūjin. Let's see how that'll develop over time.

(2) A call back to chapter 17. I wonder how many of you saw this coming.

(3) Honoka is a filler character from episode 227 of Naruto Shippūden. She was heavily implied to have been an Uzumaki. In this story, she is the younger sister of Atsushi. Honoka and her Uzumaki kin will be heavily featured for the next arc or two so look forward to getting to know them.

**Jutsu Used**

(Fūton: Yagura – Turret) – B rank, offensive, long range. Derived from the principles behind his Senpūken, this jutsu fires a barrage of compacted air projectiles at breakneck speeds, capable of levelling an entire building made of concrete within seconds. **Parent jutsu: **Senpūken (Whirlwind Fist).

(Makaze: Oniken – Evil Wind: Demon Fist) – ? rank, offensive, short range. A bijū chakra infused Senpūken that is considerably more powerful than its ordinary counterpart. **Parent jutsu: **Senpūken (Whirlwind Fist).

(Uzumaki-Ryū Fūin Kekkai: Mugen Suikomiguchi – Uzumaki Style Sealing Barrier: Infinite Maw) – S rank, supplementary, all ranges. Ranking amongst the most powerful Uzumaki sealing techniques the Infinite Maw is considered to be an impenetrable defence, sucking in all that stands before it into the abyss of nothingness.

(Fūton: Fūjin no Itazarufukuro – Wind God's Bag of Mischief) – S rank, offensive, all ranges. The pinnacle of Uzumaki Naruto's mastery over fūton jutsu that calls forth an apparition of the Fūjin to release a devastating barrage of countless miniscule wind projectiles that inflict irreversible damage on cellular level. Upon witnessing its terrifying power and high risk, Sarutobi Hiruzen classified the jutsu as an S-ranked kinjutsu and forbid Naruto to use it outside of extraordinary circumstances.

(Suiton: Suidanha – Water Severing Wave) – B rank, offensive, mid range. A simple yet effective jutsu created by the Nidaime Hokage, the Waver Severing Wave is powerful technique with great potential in conjunction with the element of surprise. It is capable of slicing through solid rock.


	26. Chapter 26: Changing Gears

**Naruto: Potential Realised**

_Posted: _18-09-14

_**I know it's been a while. Life happened.**_

**Unedited.**

* * *

><p>CH26: Changing Gears<p>

* * *

><p>-ooo-<p>

(One Year Ago)

Jiraiya awoke on a soft surface in a bright, spacious room. He lay on a comfortable, swan featherbed atop linen sheets. He was shirtless; fresh scars tracked over his skin, thick and prickly, and his ribs were covered in bandages, thus explaining the sharp pains he felt as he sat up. The bright light forced his eyes shut.

"Careful," a smooth, unfamiliar voice spoke, "we wouldn't want your wounds to reopen."

"Who's there?" Jiraiya hid his discomfort with not having sensed the other presence in the room before. "Where am I?" He raised a hand before the blinding light and squint his eyes. His entire body felt heavy and ached with pain from countless cuts and bruises and even a few torn muscles.

A man stepped into view; he was tall and elegant, with sleek, long black hair that reached his midriff, dark green eyes and black, loose-fitting robes over a military-esque suit and white gloved hands neatly folded behind his back. "My name is Mui. I have the honour of being your host." **(1)**

'Mui…' The name was undoubtedly familiar. Jiraiya had heard few stories of Sōgen's phantom right hand man, the warden of Hōzuki-jo, a castle situated somewhere in the Kannabi province of Kusa no Kuni that doubled as a prison facility, or a gulag to be more accurate.

It was a little known fact Grass Country made a tidy profit from extraditing prisoners to their country of origin for a sizeable fee. It was less messy and more lucrative than killing prisoners, though certainly more risky, hence the heavy fortifications and extensive use of fūinjutsu to maintain order. On occasion neighbouring countries would send their prisoners to the facility to keep them on remand for trial or, if convicted, to sentence them to hell on earth. The prisoners that were worth nothing in ryō, were worth their lives in labour.

"So you're the Warden of Kannabi I've heard so much about?" Jiraiya sat up straight and looked around to adjust his eyes to the light. The Kannabi province of Kusa no Kuni had been the only part of the country to have seen war during the Third Shinobi World War and had thus been fortified since. If he recalled correctly, Minato had once destroyed a bridge in the province that served as vital infrastructure for Iwa forces. "For a prison, this place doesn't look too bad."

Mui pursed his lips into a thin smile. "I assure you, the tales you have heard are far from accurate. I neither posses horns nor a tail."

"Yeah, and what about burning your prisoners alive for amusement?" The sage looked the warden in the eye and could tell he was dangerous simply by looking at him. "So… I'm awake. What happens now? Is this where you'll keep me until I inevitable break out of this place?"

Mui observed the Toad Sage in silence for a moment. "Unfortunately, you will not remain under my supervision for much longer," the warden then informed. "I was tasked only with overseeing you convalescence. Now that you are, as it would appear, fit and cognisant, I must release you to the custody of our ANBU, who will be delivering you to the appropriate authorities for questioning."

"You mean interrogation and torture." Jiraiya smiled though the situation far from called for it. "You don't seem to approve." It was evident in the warden's body language. "You don't want to be involved in any of this. You know Sōgen's making a big mistake."

"Your assumptions are unfound, I assure you," Mui answered rigidly, "and you are no longer my concern."

"You know, from the few sources I heard about you, I was told you were sent to this place to serve as the warden because you spoke out of line." Jiraiya paid careful attention to his host. "That tells me you're smart enough and courageous enough to know when to speak up when the powers that be, or in this case, the power that is, does something stupid. Like capturing a renown shinobi of Konoha for example. Pretty stupid, wouldn't you agree?"

"You infiltrated a top secret gathering and you were caught, so what does that make you?"

"I was caught because I was betrayed, a meaningless distinction to you but it makes all the difference to me."

Mui raised a sharp eyebrow. "Your point?"

"I don't have a point, that was just my pride talking. If I were to have a point though, it'd be that Sōgen is about to kick up a storm of shit nobody wants. If Sōgen and his cronies think capturing me will intimidate Konoha, they couldn't be more wrong." It was a long shot but Jiraiya knew if there was a sign of weakness he ought to at least try to exploit it while he could. "You're a smart man, Mui. You _know_ that going down this road will not end well for anyone, least of all for Kusa."

"I know a great many things, Jiraiya-sama, but none of the foolishness you are projecting, and better than anything else, I know the chain of command," the warden of Hōzuki Castle said firmly.

"Though you didn't know it well enough to keep your mouth shut when it could cost you, right?" Jiraiya persisted a little more desperate. "If you hadn't disagreed with Sōgen way back when, you wouldn't have been cut out of the decision making, you'd still be in the central military compound, in the loop and of real use to your country, rather than being a glorified nanny to foreign criminals. What was it again that you did to make Sōgen angry enough to exile you to this place?"

Mui's lifeless eyes hardened for a moment. "Enough."

Jiraiya crumpled over as a fiery sensation flared in his chest as though he were about to spontaneously burst aflame. "That's… a… nasty piece of fūinjutsu you got… there…" It was difficult to breathe and strenuous to speak. "Definitely not… Uzumaki… but not bad…!"

"I've been instructed to offer you one, and _only _one, opportunity to cooperate fully before I turn you over," Mui informed as he unclenched his gloved hand and the scorching sensation subsided. "Take it, and you will spend the rest of your days here in comfort. You will want for nothing but your freedom. Refuse me and I will have no choice but to hand you over and subject you to unimaginable pain and horrors."

Jiraiya grinned despite himself. "Worth a shot…" he said to himself as he regained his composure and laid back down. "I'm going to have to pass on that offer, Mui, but you think long and hard about what I told you. Something tells me we'll see each other again."

"I would not count on it," Mui replied as he folded his arms behind his back once again adopting his rigid military stance and several masked ANBU guards entered the room. "Take him."

-ooo-

(Kusagakure: Moments After Naruto's Escape)

Sōgen lay on the ground still as Konoha's jinchūriki escaped. Every inch of his aging body was in pain. He was completely unable to move. Blood continued to flow from his elbow down, pooling beneath him in a warm bath of red though his body grew cold. It had been a long time since Sōgen had experienced defeat, he had forgotten what that was like, to be beaten by someone, to be bested and lose so decisively. Perhaps it had been too long? Perhaps things would have gone differently if he hadn't been so confident, so sure of his himself?

But defeat did not taste bitter for Sōgen. He felt something else entirely, something he could not properly label and process, something entirely unexpected. Sadness?

A gasp escaped him as he felt emotions resurge, emotions he had not felt for many years resurface.

There had been a moment when he believed death was inevitable, a moment of uncompromised honesty that lasted no longer than a second, a brief yet so hopeful second that stretched into seemingly timelessness, in which he had welcomed death and found comfort in it. Death would have been his, the salvation of his soul… his reunion with the one he loved more than life itself.

"Kimiko," he whispered her name breathlessly. "My dear Kimiko…" How he longed to see her again, to be with her again. He simply could not bear it, he could no longer stand to bear it, his shoulders were too old, weakened with age, and his bones to slow…

But he was Sōgen, the cutthroat Shogun of Kusa no Kuni, the fearless leader of the Hidden Grass village. He was the saviour and protector of the people. 'Reign in your emotions,' the old shinobi closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, 'I must be strong. My work is not yet done.'

The newly arrived Uzumaki clan members surrounded the Shogun. "Done snivelling, are you?" Atsushi sneered at the elderly shinobi, and then turned to one of his guard. "Nobuo, move him out of sight," he ordered the mountainous Uzumaki before turning to another direction. "We have some company."

The forty-sixth clan leader of the Uzumaki clan stood in the path of Kakuzu. The tall shinobi came within sight, wandering through the broken remains of Kusagakure's military district with purpose in his steps.

"You took your time getting here," Atsushi remarked when the immortal came within hearing distance. "What business do you have, Akatsuki?"

Kakuzu observed the Hidden Grass leader become enveloped in a protecting barrier and carried away as he approached. "It is of no concern to you."

"Everything is of my concern if I make it so," Atsushi replied coldly, narrowing his violet eyes. "State your business."

"Will he live?" Kakuzu asked simply, looking in the direction of Sōgen.

Atsushi took offence to the question. "Of course he will."

"Then it is of no consequence to you," Kakuzu stated bluntly. "You and your kind have been of use to us but-"

"We do not work for you," Atsushi's violet eyes flared. "Remember that, Akatsuki."

"But," Kakuzu continued unimpressed, "unless Sōgen is out of the picture, information on our organisation remains on a need to know basis." The Akatsuki frontman smirked behind his facemask. "Unless you are willing to formally join us."

"And take orders from a phantom too cowardly to show his face? Do not think for a second I believe you are the true leader of Akatsuki," Atsushi laughed in his face. "I do not take orders, I _give_ them."

"Suit yourself," Kakuzu said with seeming indifference as he scoped the area and took in the extent of damage that had been done. "We have other matters to discuss. Namely damage control, within the village as well as outside of it."

"That is no concern of mine," Atsushi told the Akatsuki treasurer as he found a sizeable chunk of debris to sit on.

Kakuzu chuckled condescendingly. "Ah, yes, the Uzumaki clan has a mutually beneficial relationship with Kusagakure, and now it is weakened there is nothing for you to benefit from, is that it?"

"I suppose you only look the fool," the young clan leader said idly. "Uzumaki do not believe in charity."

"How much?" It was clear time was of the essence to all parties involved.

Atsushi scoffed. "You think you can buy me, Akatsuki?"

"Then make your demands," Kakuzu said, his deep voice laced with impatience and irritation.

"You failed to mention the Kyūbi jinchūriki shares my blood…" Atsushi regarded Kakuzu with a look of distrust and unveiled contempt.

"Information on our targets is on a need to know basis." The exceedingly tall Akatsuki member held his angry stare. "As you are not a member of Akatsuki, there was no reason for you to know."

"If you want my cooperation, then that is my price," Atsushi demanded. "I want the Kyūbi jinchūriki… Uzumaki Naruto, was it?"

"That can be arranged-"

"Bijū included."

"_What?_" Kakuzu's outburst coincided with a chakra spike as his temper flared. "What game are you playing, boy?"

The Uzumaki guards surrounded the immortal instantly, their chains melding in containment barrier.

"Call them off. _Now._"

Atsushi waved off his guards with a simple hand gestured. "You would do well to remember not to threaten me in again, Akatsuki."

"Explain yourself," Kakuzu demanded gruffly.

"The Kyūbi has been in the possession of the Uzumaki clan ever since the wife of the Shodai Hokage, Uzumaki Mito, became its first jinchūriki," Atsushi idly inspected his nails for dirt. "It is only fitting the beast is returned to its rightful masters."

"No deal," Kakuzu denied flatly. "Absolutely not."

"Then tell whoever is truly in charge of your pitiful organisation that we are done." Atsushi got up and smoothed the creases out of his fine cloak. "The Uzumaki clan will withdraw its support from Kusagakure. If you wish to continue making use of our services to protect your secrets, then by all means, we are open to business, however know that the fee has doubled – no, _tripled_, now that we are no longer allies."

"I thought you didn't care about money." Kakuzu held his composure.

Atsushi looked him in the eye. "I don't."

"You play a dangerous game…" Kakuzu warned. "_Boy._"

Atsushi glowered at the insult. "Make that quadrupled." He gathered his companions. "Once Sōgen is stabilised, you can have him back."

"Wait…" Kakuzu clenched his jaw. "Very well… Have it your way. If you want the Kyūbi that badly, you'll have to capture it yourselves."

"Oh? Perhaps you should run back to your master for his approval first?" Atsushi smirked.

"No need," Kakuzu assured suspiciously quick. "If the cost of doing business is one bijū out of nine, he will understand."

"Of course he will."

"But in return you will halve your current costs."

"Of course," Atsushi conceded with a mocking, theatrical bow. "As a token of friendship, of course. We'll be in touch," he said before leaving the scene.

'Enjoy yourself while you can, boy,' Kakuzu thought darkly as he watched the young man go. 'You'll regret playing this game.'

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni – Elsewhere)

"So did you win?"

"Ahuh."

Naruto sat cross-legged across Karin as they rode on Senzaru's back over Kusa no Kuni towards the west in the direction of Hi no Kuni. As it turned out his new companion was _incredibly _talkative and inquisitive.

"So Sōgen is dead?"

"I thought you were a super sensory type or something."

"I was pretty busy deserting my village."

"Ahuh."

"So, is he?"

"What?"

"Dead!"

It was getting rather annoying.

Naruto frowned as he answered. "No."

"What do you mean no?" Karin said as though offended by his answer.

"I didn't kill him." The failure of his mission still weighed heavily on his mind. Sōgen may have tasted defeat and humility but his convalescence would not take a backseat to damage control. The Shogun would retaliate one way or another, that much was inevitable, and it was likely at least some of Kusa's allies would not be so easily discouraged.

"Why not?" Karin persisted.

"Your dickhead of a clan leader showed up and got in the way," Naruto snapped at her.

Karin was far from impressed with his outburst. "So, what, you just ran away like a coward?"

"There were five of them, and I was exhausted. Of course I ran away."

"So how did you escape?" she asked without missing a beat.

"Didn't I say I had questions for you when I picked you up?" Naruto reminded her dryly.

Karin blinked. "Then ask them."

"Why-"

"But before you do, let me ask you one last question," she said before he could get a word in. "You're an Uzumaki, there's no doubt about it, but you're not a pureblood. On whose side, your father?"

"My mother," Naruto answered her mildly irritated.

"Is she still alive?"

"No…" He didn't know why he hesitated in answering; he never did before he found out his parents' identities. "She died a long time ago."

"Given your age, I'm assuming she was part of the Second Exodus," Karin said more to herself holding her chin in thought. "Right?"

Naruto blinked at the strange term. "Second Exodus? The hell is that?"

"You don't know?" The deserter titled her head seemingly nonplussed by his ignorance. "_Really?_"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't," Naruto said irritably. He wasn't as well versed in shinobi history as he would have liked to be, and while he had try to fix that in his spare time, he still had a lot to learn and there was much of shinobi history he was completely ignorant of.

"There's no need to scowl," Karin said testily with a frown of her own. "I'm not sure how much you know of your mother's heritage so I'll keep it simple. The Uzumaki clan was decimated in the First Shinobi World War along with all of Uzu no Kuni-"

"I know that."

"Don't interrupt," Karin snapped . "Like I was saying… The Silent Massacre of Uzu no Kuni nearly wiped out all inhabitants. A considerable number of survivors made it to the underground labyrinths in time though, and after it was over they resurfaced. The country was lost but the surviving Uzumaki remained on the island for years, recalling all Uzumaki that had been outside Uzu during the assault to rebuild, but things didn't go so smoothly. See, the Uzumaki clan was a clan of intellectuals and scholars from different schools of thought, they always were always at odds before the attack, and after the destruction of Uzu the clan split into two factions: one that wanted to stay and rebuild their old way of life, and another that saw their survival as an opportunity to leave and rebuild elsewhere. Many of the younger generations of Uzu no Kuni were in favour of leaving and so they left. That's when the First Exodus occurred."

"Kusa." It made perfect sense now why there were Uzumaki still alive and well and seemingly in considerable numbers, unbeknownst to the entire world. "The First Exodus Uzumaki rebuilt in Kusa, didn't they?"

"Most of them did," Karin nodded. "Though others went elsewhere. Some relocated to Kaze no Kuni, figuring their red hair and affinity for wind wouldn't be considered as suspicious and married into other clans or simply changed their names. The vast majority of the First Exodus chose Kusa no Kuni as their new home because the Uzumaki did a lot of business with Kusa in the past and had fostered beneficial relationships. They lived in a hidden compound in the countryside, posing as a village of humble farmers and craftsmen. A lot of them actually left the shinobi life behind them."

"You said my mother was probably a part of the Second Exodus, what makes you think that?" Naruto was curious to learn more of his heritage. None of the tomes Hiruzen had made available to him covered as much as he would have liked; most predated the supposed extinction of his clan and those that didn't focused only on the mystery behind their extinction and offered only theories on what became of the survivors.

"There weren't many Uzumaki left to begin with and most distrusted Hi no Kuni and Konoha after the fall of Uzu," Karin summed up simply. "The Uzumaki that remained on Uzu no Kuni were mostly the older generations, too proud and ingrained in their traditions to even consider moving. Eventually, they didn't have much of a choice and that's when the Second Exodus happened."

"What do you mean?" Naruto raised a curious eyebrow.

"Well, like I said, it was mostly the old folk that stayed behind. After a few years, there simply wasn't any room for the clan to grow with such a small population, and so what was left of the newer generation decided to disperse. Some of them joined us here, others found home elsewhere, and only one moved to Konoha," Karin finished with a meaningful look at Naruto. "I think you know who I mean by that."

Naruto regarded Karin with narrowed eyes. "How?"

"Don't underestimate the Uzumaki clan's information gathering skills," Karin said pointedly; she had deserted her clan but not her pride in her heritage. "How do you think Sōgen rose to power?"

That made enough sense for Naruto not to press further for the time being. It was troubling but she was a well of information when it came to the Uzumaki clan, information he wasn't likely to uncover from any other source. "So the Uzumaki in Kusa knew of my mother…"

"Of course they did," Karin answered as though the question struck her as foolish. "The First Exodus Uzumaki remained in contact with the Uzumaki on Uzu no Kuni for many years. When word reached them of a Uzumaki born with incredibly powerful chakra even by Uzumaki standards, there were talks of reuniting the clan by marriage, though that fell through when the Shodai's wife, Uzumaki Mito, was dying at a time that coincided with the Second Exodus and chose your mother as her successors."

Naruto did not bother to hide his disgust or relief. "Thank fuck for that."

"You do realise your mother was seen as a gift, don't you?" Karin asked curiously. "She was the Uzumaki's clan last token of friendship to Konoha. Can you genuinely say she was better of with them, repurposed as a jinchūriki, rather than be with her family?"

Naruto wanted to say his mother loved him, that she loved his father, and that she had no regrets, but… did he have the right to presume she would have chosen the life of a jinchūriki? It didn't feel right, and thus he didn't answer the question. Karin thankfully fell quiet as they sat in uncomfortable silence.

There was still much he wanted to know of the Uzumaki clan but it appeared he would have to wait as he noticed a trail of blood and crumpled feathers on Senzaru's side. "Senzaru, are you injured?"

"**It's nothing, Naruto-sama. Just a scratch." **The peregrine falcon sounded strained and tired. It was clear he had suffered in silence for a significant amount of time judging from the flash of pain in his eyes.

Naruto cursed his inattentiveness. "You're hurt, Senzaru. Land so I can take a look at you." A part of him wished he could simply blame Karin for distracting him but he knew Senzaru's health was his responsibility as the holder of the falcon contract. "I'm sorry, buddy. I'll get you patched up and feeling better in no time."

"**We have much ground to cover." **Senzaru insisted on remaining in the air but Naruto would not hear it and patted the falcon on its back, smoothening its feathers. He wasn't the only one that had been in a fierce battle.

'I'll have to make time to thank the falcons and the toads properly,' he thought as his winged familiar began a steady descent to a clear patch of grass in a nearby canopy.

"_Eeeh_, are we going to have to walk all the way to Konoha now?" Karin complained whining. "That'll take forever."

Naruto hopped off as they touched down and immediately began to examine Senzaru's wounds. "Looks like you gave as good as you got," he noted from the thick coat of blood on the falcon's talons. "What was it?"

"**A dragonfly," **Senzaru answered wincing at his touch. **"It had an unusually sharp tail and caught me by surprise."**

"A dragonfly, huh?" Naruto charged his hands green with healing chakra and placed it on the open wound, taking care to ease the falcon's pain as he tried to close it. "I ran into one of those. They're pretty damn fast."

"**Fast enough to keep up with you? You must be losing your touch for the wind."**

"In case you haven't noticed, buddy, I don't have wings. I gotta cheat my way into the sky."

The two bantered for a while as Naruto tended to the falcon's wounds, much to Karin's curiosity.

"You're pretty close to your summons, aren't you? That's pretty unusual," she commented.

"How so?" Naruto spared her a glance in between smoothening weathers to take the blood out of them.

Karin crossed her arms and looked at him as though he said something outrageous. "Typically shinobi don't treat their summons like they're friends. I mean, why would they? Once you sign a contract, the summons become subordinates to their contract holder."

"Is that so?" Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the notion.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing really." In his mind a meeting between Gamabunta and Karin played itself out rather humorously. "I don't know about other contract holders, but the way I see it, once you sign a contract, you place your unconditional trust in the animals you summon. To me that means being equals. Senzaru isn't my subordinate to boss around, he's my friend and a damn good one at that since he saved my ass."

"**You honour me, Naruto-sama."**

"He's still a stickler for honorifics though," Naruto rolled his eyes at Karin and then turned as he stroked the falcon's beak. "You and Gamahiro really looked out for me back there. I'll be sure to repay the favour some day. Now go home and rest."

"**Feel free to call upon another of my kin to see you home, Naruto-sama."**

Naruto nodded as he took a step back. "You get plenty of rest, okay? I'll summon you in a few days to treat you to something good in Konoha."

"**I look forward to it. Now then, if you'll excuse me…" **Senzaru bowed his large head respectfully and disappeared in a large burst of smoke a moment later.

"You ready?" Naruto looked to Karin as he began to stretch.

"Wait, you're not summoning another?" she said, already a petulant tone in her voice at the prospect of walking. "But Konoha is _sooo _far away."

"We're walking," Naruto said a few paces ahead. "I'm not summoning another falcon just to fly us to Konoha. For one, I already asked a lot from them when I asked them to fight with me, and two, my chakra levels are pretty damn low so if we're attacked, I'd like to be able to fight back at least a little." Normally his chakra reserves would have recovered enough to risk it by now, but the reinforcement seal Hiruzen created for him locked the fox out almost completely outside of gradually strengthening his chakra and adding to his reserves, thus replenishing his chakra was entirely on him alone.

"What if I replenish your chakra?" Karin offered as she caught up. "Will you summon a falcon then?"

Naruto looked at her as they walked further into the forest, somewhat curious and impressed. "You can do that?"

"Yep, sure can. Well, not all of it."

"Interesting."

"Ahuh. So will you?"

"Nope."

"Why the hell not?"

They disappeared into the forestry, arguing almost every step of the way. Naruto's seemingly countless questions were forgotten for the moment as he focused on returning to Konoha first.

There would be time for questions later. All he wanted to do now was go home and sleep.

-ooo-

(Konohagakure)

Sakura made her way over to Yamanka Flowers in a hurry. Her master had made it rather clear she was free to share the good news with her peers. They would likely all be relieved to hear Naruto was OK. More than OK, in fact. Sakura had done some reading over the past few days. Being the Hokage's apprentice certainly did not come without its perks and she was fortunately allowed limited access to classified intelligence.

There wasn't much Konoha had on Sōgen. The introvert Kusagakure leader, who sometimes went years without being spotted in the public eye. Though thought of as a recluse, Sōgen's reputation spoke for itself as a tried and tested battle commander. Ruthless and cutthroat were amongst favourites when describing the Shogun of Kusa. Sakura's stomach still crawled when she remembered parts of the documents made available to her that suggested Sōgen had possibly set into motion a program with the aim of eliminating promising young shinobi observed during Chūnin Exams before they could become a threat to Kusa.

Sakura was fairly certain she wouldn't have been on the shortlist compiled during the Chūnin Exam she took in part in with Team 7. Sasuke definitely would have, as the last Uchiha left in Konoha and a prodigy, there was no doubt in her mind he would have made the list. As for Naruto, she wasn't so sure. As a jinchūriki he would have definitely been observed, but that wasn't common knowledge in Konoha, so she doubted Kusa knew, and even if they did, they might have written him off. People tended to underestimate Naruto, herself included.

"Hey, Sakura, what's the rush?" Ino greeted as the rosette walked in. "You're in a good mood."

Sakura outwardly beamed. It wasn't often she was the bearer of good news. "Naruto fought Sōgen and won!"

"What?" Ino's face lit up with astonishment. "Really? When? Who told you? Come on, tell me!"

"I came straight from Tsunade-sama's office," Sakura explained to her. "I was allowed to watch. He really did a number on Kusagakure."

"You _saw _him?"

Sakura nodded. "It's a long story. You wouldn't believe how much he has changed, Ino. It's like he's a completely different person."

"That's great!" Ino cheered as she got from behind the counter and embraced the rosette. "So Naruto's okay, right?"

Sakura's smile diminished somewhat. "He seemed really tired and beat up by the end of it. He was a bleeding a lot. I think he's going to be okay though."

"Wait, you said you came her straight from the tower…" Ino recalled. "Sasuke-kun doesn't know?" Ino released her with a look of surprise. "You should really go tell him."

"I was actually going to tell him first but he usually trains at this time and you were on the way," Sakura admitted as she headed towards the door. "Let the others know, okay?"

-ooo-

(Elsewhere in Konoha)

Sasuke stood before a boulder formation riddled with holes, staring at his dominant hand with seeming fascination. He wore his off duty clothing, a simple blue shirt kimono with the Uchiha emblem on his collar tied with a rope belt and black trousers and sandals. In addition to the Uchiha clan emblem, the new Military Police emblem was stitched on his left sleeve over his bicep.

'Again.' The Uchiha raised his hand once more; chirping noises flooded his ears as he loosely gripped lightning in his hand and thrust his arm forward, straightening his fingers like a blade.

The lightning bolted from his hand and formed into a spear roughly eighteen feet long, easily capable of piercing the rock formation. 'About five metres is my maximum.' Sasuke he turned off his Sharingan. "Tche!" His displeasure tasted sour in his mouth. 'It's not enough… Have I really changed?'

While Sasuke had worked hard in the past year to hone his skills, he was no less uncertain of himself, no less doubtful of his own skill, and yet at the same time as proud as ever, of himself, of his efforts – or so he thought.

He had hid it well when he heard the news, but Naruto's activity in Kusagakure came as a _surprise _to put it mildly. Had the gap only grown bigger between them? Though he hated to admit it, and would never do so out loud, Sasuke knew Naruto had been a shade more powerful when he left to train with the Sarutobi clan. With the knowledge that the Sandaime himself would overlook his training, Sasuke had been more motivated than ever to catch up, to surpass Naruto and to once again be a step ahead. To that end he had devoted every waking moment he had to training, to honing his skills, to push and overcome his limitations… But had it been enough?

"_You don't want to be like Uzumaki," _Anko had told him a few weeks into their training together. _"There's a stupidity prerequisite to be like that kid. Idiots__ like Uzumaki, the strong ones, they're stronger than everyone else but they die young. Because they don't fight for themselves, no, they're not that smart. They fight for things bigger than themselves, things they think are worth dying for."_

Sasuke clenched his fists tight.

"_Stupid, I know, but it's the reason why they can do things others can't. Idiots like Uzumaki are fuelled by their emotions, it's what motivates them to become stronger, and it's what they base their decisions on. There's nothing wrong with being a coward. You want to live, then be like me, be a fucking coward. There won't be much glory in it for you, not tales of heroism or anything like that, but you'll live to see things others won't. You want to die young and have a plaque with your name on some slab of rock to show for it, then I can't help you."_

What good would living a long life do if he couldn't acquire the power he needed to realise his ambitions?

Did they even matter anymore?

Life had been good to him, all things considered, ever since he graduated from the academy. His time with Team 7 had opened his heart little by little, and he had grown in ways he hadn't considered possible before, in ways he didn't want to grow until he did. Sasuke never intended to make friends. He never intended to care about anyone or anything aside from his ambitions… and yet _he did care._

Little by little, as time went by, Sasuke grew to care about his friends, about his career, about being there for those he cared about, starting with his team at first, and then, before he knew it, people he hardly even interacted with… Even Anko.

Sasuke had begun to care _too_ much.

And as a result, with each and every passing day, the poisonous hatred in his heart that once clouded his judgment and gave him tunnel vision, grew smaller and smaller.

The Cursed Seal of Heaven hadn't bothered Sasuke for nearly four months now.

'I wonder… Mother, Father…' Sasuke looked at his hand. 'Would you forgive me if I sought another path? Another life different from this one…?'

In his heart he knew there was nothing to forgive but he wished, prayed even, for the first time in years, for a sign of their approval…

Unbeknownst to Sasuke he was not alone in the forest.

…

Tobi observed the young Uchiha, perched in a tree nearby with a clear vantage point and his presence masked perfectly.

"**He has potential…" **Black Zetsu said as he emerged from the bark. "Enough to surpass Itachi-san?" White Zetsu questioned. "Surely not…"

"He has the potential," Tobi acknowledged as they observed the young Uchiha. "Though he is too raw to be of use to me now."

"**You might not need him, Itachi hasn't acted out in well over a year."**

"I agree," White Zetsu concurred with his counterpart. "Itachi-san has been an asset."

"Itachi's betrayal is only a matter of time," Tobi stated with certainty. "He must be suspecting Nagato and I to make our move any day now."

"Then why would he stay with Akatsuki?"

"**Isn't it obvious? If he leaves, Sasuke will become a greater target than before."**

"If Itachi defects from Akatsuki, he will be hunted. Nagato would not rest until he found him," the masked man elaborated.

White Zetsu put it together from there. "If Itachi-san was hunted down by Akatsuki then he couldn't intimidate Danzō into staying away from Sasuke…"

"**Between a rock and a hard place, as they say," **Black Zetsu chuckled ominously. **"For now it suits him just fine to play nice and follow orders, but the moment he acts out of line, he's finished and Sasuke will pay the price."**

"And you want Nagato-san to take him out before he can do damage," White Zetsu realised looking at the masked man. "Why don't you do it yourself?"

"Itachi is too dangerous, but he is useful to Nagato. If I tried to dispose of him myself, Nagato wouldn't stand for it," Tobi explained concisely. "Nagato has to come to the desire to kill Itachi on his own."

"**It's a delicate situation…"**

"It is indeed," Tobi agreed, eyes remaining on the young Uchiha. "Even if it were the right time, making Sasuke see things my way could prove difficult. Deep down he stills wants to kill Itachi but his heart has softened. Anko has seen to that."

"**Speaking of Orochimaru, he could be of use," **Black Zetsu suggested. **"His betrayal aside, he has taken a personal interest in Sasuke."**

"I've considered it myself," Tobi acknowledged after a brief pause. "Sasuke would certainly be more malleable if we let Orochimaru take him under his wing for a while."

"Orochimaru might take his body," White Zetsu raised the concern they were all thinking. "It would be risky."

"It's a risk we may have to take."

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

"A newcomer," Tobi said as a pink haired girl approached the subject of their surveillance. "We'll continue this elsewhere."

The masked man disappeared in a vortex, followed by his conjoined companions who meld into the surroundings and disappeared from sight.

…

Sasuke turned to find Sakura running his way. "Sakura."

"There you are," Sakura said slightly out of breath. "Training hard?"

"No more than usual," Sasuke replied as he wiped the sweat off his brow and grabbed a water bottle. "What is it?"

"It's Naruto," Sakura said sounding giddy. "He's coming home."

"So he won." Sasuke sounded strangely relieved as though it confused him. "Good."

"Tsunade-sama let me watch," Sakura shared hoping to get a more enthusiastic response though she knew better than to expect. "He's really changed a lot." She could still hardly believe it had been the same Naruto they had grown up with.

"You saw him?" Sasuke gave her a look of mild confusion. "How?"

"It's a long story, but a toad from Mount Myōboku came with a crystal ball that somehow let us watch Naruto fight," Sakura gave a hurried explanation. "Anyway, he's really changed! Sasuke-kun, _he can fly._"

"Fly?" Sasuke stared blankly as she nodded. "Tell me everything."

"That'll take a while, Sasuke-kun, and I really want to be the first to tell Rei-chan before anyone else gets the chance," Sakura said hesitantly. It was unusual of her to deny his request but it wasn't every day she could be the bearer of such good news.

Sasuke swallowed his pride for the sake of curiosity. "Please."

"Okay," Sakura quickly conceded.

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni Border to Hi no Kuni)

Naruto and Karin travelled through mountainous terrains as they made their way across the border into Hi no Kuni. They had been climbing for several hours now with only a handful of short breaks in between. The sun was already setting once again and Naruto wondered how much longer his patience would last. Karin was, to put it mildly, a _trying_ individual. She was rude, abrasive and astoundingly narcissistic, concerned with only two things. Herself and the one she had become inexplicably infatuated and obsessed by beyond reasonable standards.

"If you're not a fucking _well _of information when we get back to Konoha, you're on your own," Naruto told her as he carried her on his back up the mountain trail.

Karin had rather aggressively refused to carry her own weight up the mountain only five minutes in. She claimed that her non-combative background had resulted in below average stamina.

Naruto knew that to be _bullshit_, but carrying her was easier than arguing with her, and if there was one thing Karin excelled at more than anything it was arguing until the lost the will to live.

"_Eeeeh?_ Why are you so mean?" Karin whined in his ear in a thick, obnoxious voice. "I've been nothing but pleasant to you."

"Oh, sure, you've been a treat…" he replied sarcastically.

"Hey, it's not easy for a beautiful young maiden as beautiful as myself to trust someone of questionable appearance such as yourself."

"Questionable appearance?"

"You look like a delinquent with your long hair, and you smell funny."

"You spend a year living with the Sarutobi clan and see if you come out of smelling like roses!"

"The Sarutobi clan, huh? I guess that explains the smell and the looks, and your brutish behaviour…"

"Can you please just shut up?" Naruto practically begged as he trudged along, an itching sweat breaking on his forehead that he badly wanted to scratch. 'If I knew she wouldn't rub it in my face somehow, I'd be tempted to summon a falcon…'

"Fine, we'll talk about something else. Tell me what Sasuke-kun is like."

"Again?" he groaned annoyed.

"Yes, again!"

"What do you expect me to say? He's just a guy."

"Sasuke-kun is not just some guy!"

"How would you know? You don't even know him."

"Th- That's irrelevant! I could tell from just looking at him. Sasuke-kun is special… So… what's he into?"

"You're gonna have to be clearer than that."

"I mean, what are his likes?"

"Well…" Naruto looked up in thought. He was pulling a blank on that one. "Huh… I guess he doesn't really have any. I mean, he's always either brooding or training, if that counts."

"Oh, come on! He must have a lot of friends, right? I bet he's super popular."

"Yeah… sure the girls like him. I don't know about friends though. He's kind of a dick to everyone- ouch!" Naruto felt an urge to rub the sore spot on his arm as Karin withdrew an angry fist. "What's your problem?"

"Y- Y- You got some nerve talking like that in my presence!" Karin stammered red in the face. "Apologise!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. "Look, we'll be in Konoha soon enough. You can bother Sasuke all you want then. So long as you hold your end of the bargain and cooperate."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Just tell me more about Sasuke-kun. You said you were close, right?"

"No, I didn't. Like I said, he's kind of a di- loner," Naruto quickly corrected himself before he caught another punch to the arm. "You know, you should really lower your expectations."

"Eeeeh? You sound kinda jealous… I bet you have no appeal at all with the ladies back home," Karin said in her thickest and most obnoxious voice yet.

Naruto sneered as smugly as he could. "I'll have you know I have a beautiful girl waiting for me back home."

"I don't believe you," Karin said dryly.

"It's the truth!"

"Okay, what's her name?"

"What?"

"Your _girlfriend_," Karin said with air quotation marks. "I bet she doesn't even exist."

Naruto rolled his eyes at her again. "You're an idiot, you know that, right?"

"Ha! I knew it. You don't-"

"Rei," he cut her off as they walked around a sizeable boulder in their path. "Her name is Rei, and she's kind and beautiful and a hell of lot smarter than I am."

"Yeah, right, I bet's she really fat and ug-"

Naruto dropped the redhead suddenly and unceremoniously and watched her role over the ground holding her behind in pain, screaming some of the most unladylike words he had ever heard.

"_What the hell was that for?_" Karin screeched like a banshee. "I'll kill you, you bastard!"

"You need a filter," Naruto told her as she got up looking as though she was about to come at him. "_Don't_."

Karin glowered but checked herself. "You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?"

"You're not just a girl though, are you? You're _family_," Naruto grinned at her. "As far as I'm concerned you're fair game for an ass-kicking if you come at me."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd like to put the hurt on someone after you ran with your tail tuck between your legs!" Karin hissed.

"In case you forgot, I beat Sōgen!" Despite himself, Naruto knew she had struck a cord.

Karin got in her face, standing flat-footed and angry. "Oh, you beat a senior citizen, well aren't you a tough guy?"

"Senior citizen, my ass!"

"Curious how you ran the second-" Karin's eyes widened mid sentence. "Get down!" she shouted, pushing him to the ground as a barrage of kunai came flying their way.

A kunai grazed Naruto's arm and drew blood as they way went down. 'That was close!' They scrambled to their feet and took cover behind a large rock formation. Naruto stayed low keeping a staying hand on Karin. He had only gotten a glimpse of their attackers. "Now's a good time to put your sensory perception to good use."

"There are twelve of them, they probably belong to a clan of shinobi that live in these parts," Karin said as their enemies repositioned. "They're not officially part of Kusagakure but they do business with Sōgen. Though they might not even know we're on Sōgen's shit list."

"And you didn't think to share that with me?" Naruto hissed, sparing her an angry glance in between scouring the area from their shallow vantage point behind the large rock. "We just wandered into their damn territory!"

"I thought you knew! Who infiltrates a country without having an exfiltration plan?" Karin hissed right back at him. "This could have been avoided altogether if you had just summoned another falcon you stingy bastard."

"Oh, I am _so _fucking sick of your shit!" Naruto grit his teeth. He did his best to reign in his anger though it was a challenge. "Where are they?"

"You're going to fight them?" Karin said incredulously. "Don't be an idiot! They knew the lay of the land better than anyone, it'll be like fighting ghosts!"

"You're damn right I'm going to fight them," Naruto ground at her as he fine-tuned his senses for the slightest shift in the air. Their enemies were masters of their environment and had masked their presence perfectly. "Fuck this country and everyone in it."

"Hey, fuck you too!"

"Just tell me where they are!" Naruto created a single Kage Bunshin to stay with her. "They caught me at real bad time to piss me off, and the fact they think they can just attack anyone that crosses the fucking mountain without warning… Who knows how many people they've killed just for being on their turf. That kind of indiscriminate killing… _it really pisses me off._"

"Did you graduate yesterday?"

"If I have to ask you where they are one more time I'm tossing you over this rock." His voice sounded so cold he sensed her apprehension as she adjusted her glasses and closed her eyes to concentrate.

"They split up into groups and they're coming at us from three directions," Karin relayed a moment later. "The closest group is fifty yards that way-"

Naruto disappeared from sight, scaling the large rock in a burst of speed and surging towards the enemy. He heard their astonishment; unusual given how skilled they had been in sneaking up on them, but understandable given the fact Karin had located their position with pinpoint accuracy. Naruto didn't give them much time to reach and came flying at them, kicking one in the chest so hard he heard his sternum break under his sole as the shinobi flew down the mountain to certain death. He dodged several climbing hooks from a second shinobi in grey camouflage attire before he ducked and slammed a Rasengan in his stomach as the remaining two scattered.

They weren't fast enough, however, and he quickly caught up with them with a quick Body Flicker, dispatching each one with bone-breaking, Sarutobi clan taijutsu aimed to for their joints and ribs to put them down ruthlessly with minimal effort. They weren't dead but would be without immediate medical attention judging from their laboured breathing.

The two remaining groups seemed to realise he was a bigger threat than they had anticipated. 'Not some helpless target, am I? Doton: Yomi Numa!' Naruto pressed his hands together and placed them on the ground, reminded of the Toad Sage for a brief second as he performed the Swamp of the Underworld jutsu and swept the rocky terrain a torrential mudslide that flowed in great volume and pace, creating a veritable swamp of mud that forced his attackers to scatter lest they be caught and swallowed whole.

He caught two of them in his swamp and quickly made them disappear from sight, suffocating them with sheer volumes of mud.

'I'm not done yet, assholes. Doton: Doryūdan no Jutsu!" A large dragon head emerged from the mud, maw parting as spat out the corpses of the unfortunate two and fired a barrage of mud projectiles that hardened upon impact.

Another two of the mountain shinobi went down quickly, dropping like anvils in their new mud-made straitjackets that grew into full-body cocoons.

Naruto decided they were the lucky ones as he aimed his Earth Dragon to fire another barrage and performed a string of hand seals that concluded with the tiger seal. This particular technique combination was a favourite of the old man. He had faced it plenty of times in the past year. 'Katon: Karyū Endan no Jutsu!'

Naruto jumped on the Earth Dragon's head and had it rise higher in the air as he exhaled and breathed a sizeable, high-pressure stream of fire that covered the mud projectiles, increasing their lethality exponentially. Another three went down as they scrambled for cover, scorched to death in their mud cocoons.

"Retreat!"

'Looks like they finally realised they bit off more than they could chew.' Naruto continued to fire his deadly barrage at the retreating shinobi. They were rather good at using the mountainous environment to their advantage and managed to scatter, completely disappearing from sight within seconds. "Karin!"

"That was fucking amazing!" Karin shouted behind him.

"Where did they go?" His own sensory aptitude wasn't fine tuned enough to pick them out. They had completely blended with the environment. "Karin!"

"They've retreated," she finally answered. "I can still sense them but it's not worth pursuing them, they'll just outrun us."

"They left their wounded," Naruto noted as the Earth Dragon descended into the mud and cancelled out. "No," he said when Karin pulled out a kunai.

The redhead looked at him angry. "Why? They tried to kill us."

"If their comrades don't come back for them, they'll die anyway," Naruto told her as he gathered his things. "If they're lucky, they'll live. Either way, they're no longer a threat to us."

"You're showing them mercy after they just tried to kill you?" Karin said incredulously. "You know they kill anyone that comes around these parts, right? Even unarmed civilians trying to get out of the country."

"It's not mercy." Naruto gave the wounded shinobi one last look. "My gramps told me the mark of a great shinobi is knowing when taking a life is necessary and when it isn't. These men are beaten, and killing them won't gain us anything but more blood on _my hands_."

"What kind of shinobi are you?" the redhead snapped irritably.

He kept the answer to that question simple. "The kind that doesn't enjoy killing but will when it's necessary and won't when it isn't."

"Sounds like your gramps doesn't know what he's talking about. Killing is a shinobi's duty, it's what we do, one way or another," Karin said bitterly.

"When you live to be as old and wise as the Sandaime Hokage, feel free to change my mind, but until then, I suggest you shut up." Naruto began to climb the mountain trail once more, looking once over his shoulder. "You coming?"

Karin stood firm for a stubborn moment as he continued to climb the mountain trail before releasing a frustrated screech and following suit.

-ooo-

(Oto no Kuni – Otogakure HQ)

The heavy steel doors groaned as they opened and allowed entry to the long, torch-lit hall where Orochimaru spent most of his time, seated on a throne with a vast arrangement of assorted tonics, elixirs and potions by his side.

"Sasaki Genji," the serpent acknowledged as he downed a green concoction, smacking his lips at the putrid taste. "You've brought guests."

Sasaki dragged two unconscious men across the floor by the scruff of their necks. "I made some interesting friends, Orochimaru-sama."

"And you brought them here?" Kabuto said disapprovingly; his glasses reflected in the light of the fire. "Without permission?"

"I'm sure you'll forgive me once you hear what I've learned," Sasaki replied confidently as he easily threw the men before the throne. "These men are Kusagakure ANBU."

"I hope for your sake that's not all you learned," Kabuto warned.

"No, of course not, I wouldn't have bothered bringing them here if that was the case," Sasaki assured smoothly. "I'm not the best at interrogation, but I managed to get something out of them. They were on their way to a prisoner transport."

"And?" Orochimaru sounded impatient.

"They're black site officers, Orochimaru-sama," the swordsman informed. "Specifically, they're black site officers that were stationed at the same holding facility as an old friend of yours."

"Now that _is_ interesting," Orochimaru cackled approvingly, much to his bespectacled henchman's displeasure. "But what good does that information do me?"

"Well-"

"If you manage to secure the release of Jiraiya, then Konoha and their allies will commit their resources to hunting down the Akatsuki once they learn of their relationship with Sōgen and the minor villages," Kabuto cut in passive aggressively. "Isn't that right, _Sasaki?_"

"I thought you were a stickler for honourifics."

"Now, now, Kabuto…" Orochimaru chided frivolously for a moment. "How did you know where to find them, Genji-kun?"

"I got a tip from an old friend, an information broker I did some work for a few years ago," Sasaki answered. "He's not a friend of Sōgen and he knew I work for you now so he probably thought I'd use this to get in you're good graces since you're not a friend of Sōgen's either these days."

"Well this certainly is a welcomed surprise," Orochimaru licked his lips with his freakishly long tongue. "Kabuto will verify what you have told me."

"Of course," Sasaki nodded his understanding.

"And then, when the time is right," Orochimaru said as he poured his goblet with another concoction, "I will send you to make contact with Konoha."

"You want me to reach out to them directly?" The last time the swordsman had come into contact with Konoha, he wound up hospitalised for a week. "I can't make promises for my behaviour if I run into that blond bastard."

"I see," Orochimaru chuckled amused. "Then I will send a chaperone."

"That's not necessary," Sasaki retracted quickly. "Besides, I'm sure Kabuto-san wouldn't enjoy my company."

"Don't worry, Kabuto is far too valuable to risk capture," the serpent said to which Kabuto seemed to swell with pride. "Gen'yūmaru-kun."

A shift in the wind signalled the arrival of a new presence in the throne room.

"Orochimaru-sama."

Sasaki felt a shiver run down his spine, and spun with his sword half drawn on the man behind him.

Gen'yūmaru was a young man with shoulder-length white hair and dark purple eyes; he wore a simple yellow tunic and a purple rope belt over his chest and waist and exuded an air confidence. **(2)**

"Who is this?" Sasaki pushed his sword in its sheathe. He could tell the newcomer was formidable to say the least.

"Your chaperone." Orochimaru swirled the elixir in his hand. "Gen'yūmaru-kun is a very capable young man. He will accompany you on your mission and make sure things go smoothly."

"I don't need a partner, Orochimaru-sama," Sasaki said. The notion of being sueprvised dealt a seriously blow to his pride. "I was only joking."

"I wasn't," Orochimaru replied coldly.

Sasaki held his tongue knowing arguing with the serpent was not only an exercise in futility, but also that second guessing Orochimaru was an excellent way of losing one's life quickly, if he were in a merciful mood. "As you wish."

"Good," Orochimaru reclined in his throne. "Leave us."

Gen'yūmaru held the door open for the mercenary and let it come to a groaning close. "He doesn't seem to like me very much, Orochimaru-sama."

"Oh, he'll come around," the Sannin said fondly. "If he knows what is good for him."

"He's up to something," Kabuto shared his suspicion. "I don't believe a word of his story."

"It does seem a little convenient," Orochimaru agreed as he drowned his drink. "Gen'yūmaru-kun," the snake called sweetly.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Keep a close eye on Sasaki-kun for me, won't you?"

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama."

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni – Kannabi Province)

Jiraiya awoke on a soft surface, in a bright and spacious room. He was warm and comfortable for the first time in a very long time. He sat up as he covered his eyes with his hand and tried to adjust to the light.

A familiar voice spoke up. "It would appear you were right."

Jiraiya began to laugh. Slowly at first, beginning with a low chuckle, and then, before he could even see his host, he laughed loudly, almost hysterically until his voice went hoarse.

-ooo-

(Kusa no Kuni – Hi no Kuni Border)

Once Naruto and Karin had made it down the mountainside, they decided to stay off the roads, knowing it was possibile Kusa search parties would boldy cross the border into Fire Country to find them.

Naruto also made the conscious decision to keep Karin out of sight. She was rather passionate, to put it mildly. She talked his ear off the entire time they had been together, incessantly asking questions about anything and everything, down to the most mundane details, and by the time they had begun their descent, Naruto gave up on trying to pay attention. The redhead was adamant not to spill anything until they got back to Konoha where should be taken in under their protection as a defector in possession of "invaluable" information, or that was what she claimed to have. Naruto wasn't so sure anymore.

"Just for the sake of my peace of mind," he probed lightly. "Exactly what kind of information do you have again?"

"Forget it," Karin refused flatly. "Don't you worry your pretty little head though, Na…," she paused, furrowing her brows, "Natsu?"

"Naruto!" he corrected irritably. "Did you seriously just forget my name? We've been travelling together for over a day."

"I can't help it you're not very interesting," Karin said with brutal honesty. "You don't have much appeal, you know?"

He rolled his eyes at her. Arguing with her was more than pointless, it was damn exhausting, and he didn't want to give the chatterbox any more reason to keep yammering in his ear. "Just for future reference, don't try pulling any of this shit with the Hokage. She won't hesitate to-"

"Shh!" Karin pressed a finger to her lips for emphasis and looked around as she whispered. "We're surrounded."

"What?" Naruto tensed for a second and then adopted a fighting stance. "How the hell did that happen? I thought you were supposed to a super sensor."

"Yeah, well, shut up," Karin panned their surroundings. "These guys are _really _good."

Naruto groaned tiredly; this was the last thing he needed. "We know you're here. Come out." He hadn't expected that to work when it did.

In an instant, a dozen masked shinobi appeared in a circle formation around them, effectively sealing off their escape. Naruto immediately recognised their attire and sighed out of relief.

"We were waiting for you," Rooster said as he broke formation and approached. "We were hoping you'd be travelling on foot."

Naruto stared at the man a long time. This was one of Jiraiya's old students, and once a teammate to his father, something he hadn't thought to mention it the last time they met, though it was hardly the time to bring that up.

"Who is this?" Rooster tilted his head curiously at Karin. "A captive?"

"She's with me," Naruto said simplistically. "Don't worry, she's not a threat."

Rooster glanced back at him. "We're under orders from Hokage-sama to bring you home." He gestured to his men. "Take her."

Two ANBU operatives stepped forward.

Naruto raised an arm in front of Karin. "She's not the enemy."

"Understood, but we will have to restrain her," Rooster said as his subordinates approached.

"The hell you are!" Karin burst out.

Naruto pushed her behind him. "She's not dangerous. I trust her."

"I don't." Rooster nodded at his men.

"I wouldn't," Naruto warned the ANBU in a voice cold enough to put a halt in their step. "Like I said, _she's with me_," he told Rooster directly. "She's family."

"What?" the ANBU captain was audible surprised. "She's a-"

"Captain, if I may," another ANBU operative wearing a lantern fish on his mask spoke up.

Rooster held his subordinate's gaze for a moment and then gestured his men to stand down.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked suspiciously as the ANBU approached.

"That's a hurtful question to ask, Naruto-kun," the ANBU said as he removed his mask and smiled.

Naruto's eyes widened. "_You?_"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

Yeah, I'm a dick for ending it like that, but, eh, you'll live. Try to guess who this mysterious figure is.

This was originally much longer. My intention was to have Naruto return to Konoha this chapter, but the exposition is more important in the long term. The attack on Kusa has far-reaching consequences that I want to take my time setting up properly.

The Akatsuki have been playing it safe for quite some time now, lying in wait, forging alliances and amassing a great amount of resources to usurp their enemies and to debase the strength and reputation of the Great Five, all in the interest of waging their inevitable war. Realistically, I though, the Akatsuki couldn't take on the Great Five, so early on in the story Nagato had them hold back on collecting the bijū. Now that has changed because Naruto's assault on Kusagakure is guaranteed to shift gears into motion. More on that later.

Speaking of Kusagakure, their relationship with the Uzumaki clan is something I intend to expound upon as the story unfolds to serve as an important lesson to Naruto and to offer some kind of closure on what happened to the Uzumaki clan.

I hope you guys remembered Sasaki Genji from earlier chapters, in which I revealed he is Sasori's spy. So look forward to seeing that subplot being unravelled.

I wanted to include the Twelve Deva meeting this chapter, but it's pretty long so I've had to shuffle things around some more. I'm actually surprised how much of the things I planned to write for this story (and The Uzumaki Descendant) turned out to be canon.

**Notes**

**(1)** Like Ryūzetsu in previous chapters, Mui is a character from Blood Prison, the fifth Naruto Shippūden film. He's something of a badass warden with fire based sealing jutsu. He's got a lot of potential and I always imagined him as a principled but reasonable man prior to losing his son. Mui will become more relevant in the future.

**(2)** Gen'yūmaru is the young man whose body Orochimaru was forced to take over when Sasuke took too long to arrive. Orochimaru's arms were never sealed in this story so he has no need to hurry as much to change bodies, a process that was quickened by Hiruzen sealing his arms away. Gen'yūmaru won't play a huge role in the story, but he'll be around.


End file.
